Volleyball team takes commanding win over Payette

The Lady Wolverines hosted the visiting league competitors, Payette Pirates last Thursday, but prior to the match, the senior night ceremony was held in honor of four talented seniors:  Shelby Aldrich, Denica McClellan, Reagan Doty and Macey Buescher.  
 The stands were full of Wolverine volleyball fans and students and the four senior student athletes were duly recognized earlier in the season than usual to ensure that the ceremony could happen in case there were any season changes due to COVID-19.
 The Lady Wolverines started out strong against the Lady Pirates with a scoring run by Reagan Doty for a quick 5-1 lead.  Macey Buescher took control behind the service line after recording a kill from the back row and added to the lead 7-2.  
 The Lady Wolverines hit a rough patch, dealing with some ball handling errors, allowing the Pirates to sneak back into the set and tie it up 12-12.  
 A time out by head coach, Lindsay Grant, energized the struggling Wolverines and a surge began again with Doty behind the line.  Doty recorded an ace and Mattie Shirts kept her serving with a hard kill.  
 Buescher took over the serving duties and with an ace, a kill from Jasi Yraguen and a few Pirate errors, the Wolverines pulled ahead again 21-15.  
 Ivy Morris dropped a sneaky set on the second contact into a hole in the Pirate defense, and the Pirates were unable to recover and get back into the set.  The Lady Wolverines won the first set 25-17.
 With a visibly rattled Pirate squad on the defensive side, Doty began serving for an 8-0 lead, recording 5 aces in her time behind the service line.  
 Following a kill by Emma Tolman, Denica McClellan took over the serving duties and aided by a collaborative stuff block from Shelby Aldrich and Shirts, and a kill by Shirts, the Wolverines pulled away 15-3.  
 The Lady Wolverines suffered another series of defensive bobbles and let the Pirates score six unanswered points. However, Doty resumed serving and with a Yraguen stuff block to energize the team they regained a commanding 20-11 lead.  
 Setter, Ivy Morris stepped back to serve and with a pair of kills from Shirts and a tip kill of her own and a free ball that the Pirates couldn’t return, the Wolverines took the second set 25-13.
 The third set of the match began a bit bumpy for the Wolverines, trading points with the Pirates to the 5-5 mark, but a long rally that ended in favor of the Wolverines was just the impetus to get a surge started.  
 McClellan began serving and an ace serve and a pair of hard kills from Doty put the Wolverines on top 9-5.  A pair of consecutive aces by Shirts added to the Wolverine lead and then freshman setter, Danica Lockett went on a 6-0 scoring run to 18-7.  
 The Wolverines were playing scrappy volleyball and fighting for every play and the Pirates simply could not keep up with the pace and the Wolverines took the third set 25-14 and the match 3-0.