Wayne, Lenox defeat NV volleyball

The Nodaway Valley volleyball team traveled to Lenox last Tuesday, Sept. 10 to play in their first Pride of Iowa Conference triangular meet. Other teams at the event were Lenox and Wayne. The Wolverines battled there but fell to both teams to see their POI record start at 0-2 and overall record slip to 0-11.

Against Wayne in the first set, the Wolverines broke a 1-1 tie with a 3-0 run to take a 4-1 lead behind the serving of Adelaide Livingston. Livingston had two aces in the run and the other point was from a Falcon error. Wayne battled back behind serving from Ava Whitney with a 5-0 run to take a 7-4 lead. Nodaway Valley broke the run with a Falcon hit error to get the score to 7-5. Leading by four, 10-6, the Falcons went on their second 5-0 run to take a nine-point, 15-6 lead, the biggest in the set by either team.

NV broke that run with an Izzy Eisbach kill with an assist from Bailey Carstens to set the score at 15-7. The Wolverines made a mini-run with two straight points off errors with Carstens serving putting the score at 15-9. Later, three straight NV points — a Taylor Laughery kill and two Ava Armstrong aces — got NV to within 16-12. NV got within three, 16-13 before Wayne stopped the run.

Wayne would extend their lead to 20-14 before an NV time-out sparked another run with Livingston serving again. A Kylie Nelson kill gave the Wolverines the ball back on a side out and the score was 20-15. Three more NV points cut the Falcons lead to 20-18. An ace by Liv Laughery got NV within one, 21-20. The Wolverines would tie the set at 23 after two Izzy Eisbach aces, but Wayne would score the final two points to capture the set 25-23.

In the second set, the Wolverines kept up with the Falcons for over half of the set. There were seven points in the set that was a one-point difference between the teams. The Wolverines tied the set at 4 and 12 and hung around with scrappy play. Wayne however, came back with a late run and the Wolverines could not get closer than the final in the set, 25-17. The second set win gave the Falcons the match, 2-0.

The Wolverines had 26 attacks in the match and seven kills from those attacks. Juniors Izzy Eisbach and Kyllie Nelson led in attacks with eight each while Eisbach and Taylor Laughery led in kills with three each.Bailey Carstens led in assists with four.

Nodaway Valley served 35-for-39 in the match with six aces.Sophomores Adelaide Livingston was 9-for-10 with an ace and Ava Armstrong was 8-for-9 with an ace to lead the Wolverines. Liv Laughery was 8-for-8 with a pair of aces. Eisbach also had a pair of ace serves. Nodaway Valley had 15 digs in the match led by Livingston with five and Laughery with three.

Against Lenox, the Wolverines had to weather a spirited Tiger team that raced to a 14-4 lead early. After a time out by the Wolverines, Nodaway Valley settled in, out-scoring the Tigers 12-11, but the margin was too great for a complete comeback as the Wolverines fell 25-16 in the first set.

The Wolverines would go on an 11-4 run to end the set to give themselves a boost going to the second set. The NV points came on three blocks, two kills, three aces, and three Lenox-hitting errors. The Wolverines would fall 25-17 in the second set, dropping the match 2-0.

The Wolverines had 16 attacks in the match and five kills. Taylor Laughery led in attacks with seven and kills with three. Eisbach had three attacks and Liv Laughery had a pair of kills in the match. Livingston had three assists.The Wolverines had 17 digs with Liv Laughery leading with five while Taylor Laughery and Allie Cornelison each had four. The Wolverines served 24-for-28 in the match with four aces. Ava Armstrong and Taylor Laughery led with each going 7-for-7. Armstrong had two aces and Laughery one-ace.

Nodaway Valley hosted a POI triangular meet Tuesday when East Union and Martensdale-St. Mary’s comes to town. The Wolverines also play at Earlham Thursday night before going to Southwest Valley on Sept. 24 for another POI meet.