Wolves go 2-0 in triangular; Spartans split

For the first time this season, the IKM-Manning Wolves volleyball team was on the court seeing some game action where they came away with two wins, one each against the Ar-We-Va Rockets and the Exira-EHK Spartans.

“I loved it,” said Wolves Junior Karlee Arp. “I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. We’ve spent a long time in practice. I think we just went out there and we played our best our first game. That was an amazing feeling.”

The Spartans were back on the court after playing a quad at ACGC High School Thursday, where they took two of three matches.

In game one, the Wolves got a clean sweep of the Rockets, winning both sets by scores of 25-15 and 25-18. The first point of the match came from Arp on a serve ace as the Wolves managed to get a 19-13 lead before Rockets head coach Kara Peter called a timeout.

When play resumed, the Wolves continued to dominate on the offensive end of the floor, with the final point coming from Junior Anna Stangl via an ace.

“We knew we needed two wins tonight, and if we didn’t get two wins we were going to be pretty upset,” Stangl said. “We were all pretty motivated, and we got those wins.”

The second game of the night featured the Rockets taking on the Spartans. The Rockets came away with a set one 25-19 victory, but the Spartans bounced back taking the next two sets 25-20 and 15-10.

“We did gather ourselves and pull out the first match,” said Spartan Head Coach Derek Reischauer. “I give Ar-We-Va credit, they played pretty well, but we just weren't playing with any passion or energy. I have only ever seen us play like that once before and that was in a match last season. So, yes we pulled out the win, maybe we don't win that match last season, so maybe that is a positive we can pull out of that. It did put us 3-0 in tiebreaker matches on the season.”

The third and final game of the night featured the Wolves and Spartans. The Wolves took set one, but they had to battle for it, after trailing the Spartans 17-13 when Wolves head coach McKaylie Croghan called a timeout.

“She [Croghan] told us that we can’t play safe and we needed to keep swinging,” said Wolves Freshman Keagan Eischeid. “We needed to play defense, be scrappy, and don’t let anything drop.”

Following the timeout, the Wolves found a rhythm where they got going offensively, and earned their final point for the set victory that came courtesy of a kill from Eischeid.

During set two, the Spartans offense came alive and battled back for the set victory. At one point the set was tied at 12 when Wolves Sophomore Katelyn Bandow tied the set, but following Bandow’s point, the Spartans went on a 4-0 run eventually winning set two 25-20.

In set three, the Wolves jumped out to a 3-1 lead after Junior McKenna Benton had a serve ace. The Spartans battled back at one point leading 7-4. The Wolves bounced back having leads of 11-9 and 13-10. The final point of the nights came on serves from Wolves Freshman Olivia Linde and Eischeid, who served the ball which deflected off Spartan Senior Mayne Jorgensen in the backcourt.

The 2-0 Wolves will return to action Thursday at 7:15 p.m., hosting the 7-9 Underwood Eagles. The Eagles are led by Allissa Fischer with 155 assists, Carly Nelson with 83 kills, 47 digs, and 23 serve aces, along with Hailey Ambrose with 16 blocks.

“I think we need to bring the energy from these games today to the Underwood game,” Eischeid said. “We know what we can do, and we’ve got to keep swinging.”

The 5-2 Spartans will be on the road Thursday at 6 p.m. taking on the 8-0 Coon Rapids-Bayard Crusaders. The Crusaders are led by Amelia Cook with 123 assists, Malia Clayburg with 66 kills, three blocks, and 12 serve aces, along with Anna Hart with 89 digs.

“I really like that we have found ways to win the tight matches, that really shows some mental growth and maturity,” Reischauer said. “We need a lot of work on all areas of our game. The two main areas we need to improve on is serving and passing. We said after the Lenox and Griswold matches that if that is the best we are going to be all year we are in trouble because everyone else is going to improve.”