Despite one hiccup, South O’Brien was able to pick up a road win, defeating West Sioux 3-1 September 26 at Hawarden. After winning the first set 25-11, the Wolverines were nipped 25-23 in the second. The visitors came back to take the final two sets 25-12 and 25-16.
“What a great team win tonight!” said South O’Brien head coach Amy Schmidt, emphasizing the word “team.” “Brooklyn Edwards continues to lead our team at the net and in serving. She was a tough contender for us! We got off to a great start and played really well as a team. We were doing most everything correctly. We struggled a bit with missed serves. This has been a strong focus for us and we fell short in this stat area but performed pretty solid in all other areas.
“Ashlynn (Gunnerson) and Brooklyn were our strong servers for set one and that proved to be a real positive, besides the fact that our front row hit extremely well, making good choices! In set two, we let up with our attacks as well as passing. We didn’t communicate well and it showed. The girls fought back hard but came up short. Set three was a recovery set. We played well at times but were also hesitant and not always making good choices offensively. I was pleased with our tenacity and this is where Brooklyn’s senior leadership stepped up. She was very positive on the floor and came up with some big hits that pushed us forward. Chloe (Hustedt) also had a successful night at the net. The fourth set was no different. Our girls did have a few lapses in judgment and communication but didn’t waver and give up. They pushed through adversity and came together on top.
“I was really pleased with our overall play tonight. It was a great team effort. We subbed a few times to try and get a side out and those kids did a great job of stepping in. It’s not a one-person show, in fact, the majority of athletic competition, unless an individual sport, is based on team. Our girls showed tonight that when a team plays together, and does so unselfishly, good things happen.”
Edwards paced the serving effort, going 25-for-25 with five aces. She was also 26-of-30 attacking and totalled 13 kills. Hustedt added nine kills and Marissa Ebel and Taylor Wulf six apiece. Gunnerson sipplied 33 assists. The digs leaders were Abby Nelson with 17, Hustedt with 11, Reese Farquhar with 10 and Jinger Nieuwenhuis with eight.
South O’Brien Stats
Kills-Errors-Attempts (Kill Efficiency): Team 40-11-99 (.293), Ashlynn Gunnerson 1-0-1 (1.000), Chloe Hustedt 8-7-30 (.033), Lindsey Einck 0-0-1 (.000), Reese Farquhar 4-1-13 (.231), Marissa Ebel 6-1-11 (.455), Taylor Wulf 6-3-20 (.150), Claire Wagner 1-0-1 (1.000), Brooklyn Edwards 13-4-30 (.300).
Assists: Gunnerson 33, Hustedt 1.
Digs: Team 62, Abby Nelson 17, Hustedt 11, Farquhar 10, Jinger Nieuwenhuis 8, Wulf 6, Gunnerson, Ebel, Edwards 3, Wagner 1.
Serving (Efficiency): Team 83-97 (.856) 19 aces, Gunnerson 14-18 (.778) 4 aces, Hustedt 7-9 (.778) 2 aces, Nelson 3-4 (.750) 1 ace, Farquhar 14-16 (.875) 3 aces, Ebel 15-17 (.882) 3 aces, Wulf 4-7 (.571) 1 ace, Wagner 1-1 (1.000), Edwards 25-25 (1.000) 5 aces.