South O’Brien’s opening round contest in the Class 1A Region 4 volleyball tournament was a rematch. Akron-Westfield had gone on the road to sweep the Wolverines in a September War Eagle Conference match-up. The result was the same October 21 as the Westerners again won 3-0, this time at Akron. The set scores were 25-19, 25-14 and 25-19.
“We played better than we did the first time around; however, we still made mental mistakes that cost us dearly,” noted South O’Brien head coach Amy Schmidt. Tori Schueller had a great set one. She was getting some nice sets and could put the ball away. They couldn’t stop her, and it was fun to watch her attack the ball. AW had their best player go down with a leg injury which somewhat opened the door for us, but we didn’t answer. We struggled with serve-receive, setting, attacking and defensive coverage; all vital to winning. At times, we looked good and then went back to struggling. If you watched the match, you saw AW players hitting the floor to cover balls and keep them in play. We didn’t move our feet to get to the ball to do the same and it showed.”
The Wolverines started the match slowly, falling behind 5-1. They rallied to take an 8-7 lead. The teams were tied 15-15 but AW controlled the remainder of the first set. South O’Brien trailed throughout the second set loss. The early portion of set three went better for the Wolverines as they seized a 5-2 advantage. The visitors were on top 10-9 but would not hold the lead again. South O’Brien trailed by just two points at 19-17. However, the Westerners were able to close out the match.
Schueller’s eight kills came with a .261 efficiency. Raegan Plagge’s efficiency was not as high, but she did lead the team in kills with nine. Chloe Hustedt had six kills and Taylor Wulf five. Plagge and Lindsey Einck combined for a block.
Hustedt came up with seven digs and Reese Farquhar five. The Wolverines served at 89 percent as a team. Plagge was 11-for-11 serving and Ashlynn Gunnerson 7-for-7 with an ace.
South O’Brien finished the season with a record of 8-15. “We had a better season than last year,” said Schmidt. “Our record was improved and we finished higher in the conference. We need to work harder in the off-season in order to be more successful next season. We have a lot of young players who are willing to work and improve. I am excited about next year!
South O’Brien Stats
Kills-Errors-Attempts (Kill Efficiency): Team 32-23-101 (.089), Taylor Wulf 5-6-21 (-.048), Raegan Plagge 9-10-29 (-.034), Ashlynn Gunnerson 2-0-3 (.667); Chloe Hustedt 6-4-14 (.143), Reese Farquhar 2-1-11 (.091), Tori Schueller 8-2-23 (.261).
Digs: Team 22, Hustedt 7, Farquhar 6, Wulf 5, Gunnerson, Addi Hedberg 2.
Blocks: Plagge, Lindsey Einck 1 assist.
Serving (Efficiency): Team 46-52 (.885) 2 aces, Wulf 3-3 (1.000), Plagge 11-11 (1.000), Gunnerson 7-7 (1.000) 1 ace, Hustedt 8-11 (.727) 1 ace, Einck 2-2 (1.000), Hedberg 4-6 (.667), Farquhar 7-8 (.875), BreLee Rasmussen 4-4 (1.000).