Lady Wolverines take pair of narrow SRV losses

Weiser’s Lady Wolverine volleyball team recorded a pair of losses last week to SRV opponents McCall and Fruitland. Both of those teams are riding on undefeated seasons, so far, with matching 5-0 records.

 In McCall on Tuesday, Sept. 17, the Wolverines challenged the Vandals in four hard-fought sets, losing the first two, 25-27 and 21-25, winning the third, 25-22, and then taking another loss in the fourth, 22-25.

 “It was a match with multiple lead changes and momentum switches,” Coach Michelle Estes said. “It was a nice chance for us to work through game strategies and to concentrate on staying focused throughout long rallies. We had multiple tough breaks near the end of a couple sets that put us on our heels. 

 “Whenever we play a worthy opponent we relish the time to work hard and learn,” she added. “We made some good adjustments that will help us in the future and we have some great information to take into practice to get better. It was a solid match and we look forward to hosting McCall in October.”

 As usual, the Wolverines recorded some impressive individual statistics: Madi Wilkins, 18 digs, 2 aces, and 13 assists; Ellie Shirts, 17 digs; Lucy Hickey 6 kills, 3 blocks, and 2 aces, with a hitting percentage of .310; Evie Dolton, 9 kills; Paisley Noyer, 5 kills, and 6 blocks; and Presley Williams, 12 assists.

 On the home court, Thursday, Sept. 19, the Wolverines met the Fruitland Grizzlies in a conference match that opened a full evening of volleyball. The Weiser/Fruitland match was followed by a best-of-three match between Fruitland and non-conference opponent Vale Lady Vikings, with another best-of-three between Weiser and Vale.

 The Lady Wolverines took narrow 25-21 losses to the Grizzlies in the first two sets, coming back in the third with a 25-21 win. The fourth set saw more of those lead changes Estes had described in the McCall match, but in the end, the Wolverines came up short 17-25.

 The Wolverines recorded some outstanding statistics: Ellie Shirts, 30 digs, and 4 assists; Evie Dolton, 13  digs, serve received a 2.240, 11 kills, 3 blocks, 2 aces, and 1 assist; Madi Wilkins, 12 digs, 2 aces, and 22 assists; Lucy Hickey, 13 kills, hitting a .400, 1 block, and 1 ace; Paisley Noyer, 13 kills, hitting a .480, and 5 blocks; Kamryn Doty, 4 blocks; and Presley Williams, 4 aces, and 17 assists.

 “I am proud of the team, they worked hard and played strong,” Estes said. “Fruitland is a great serving team and we serve-received the best we have all season. We have some really good things happening on the court and some amazing connections between the players. It is going to be an exciting second half of our season.” 

 The Wolverines defeated Vale in two sets,  25-14, and 25-18.

 Weiser stats: Ellie Shirts 7 digs, serve-receive 2.440, 5 aces, 2 assists, and 1 kill; Evie Dolton, 5 digs, and 6 kills; Lucy Hickey, 4 kills, and 1 block; Madi Wilkins, 5 digs, 2 kills, 5 assists, and 1 ace; Presley Williams, 10 assists, 1 ace, and 1 kill, Adalyn Brush, serve-receive 2.500; and Hailey Eames, 3 blocks, and 2 kills.