Raiderettes drop POI opener
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The state of the 2023 volleyball season did not go the way that Mount Ayr head coach Kristen Graham had hoped.
After playing a flawless first set to take an early lead, the Raiders would see POI foe Bedford win the next three sets to claim the match 3-1.
The win was the second in a row for the Bulldogs over Mount Ary and the sixth win in the last nine meetings between the two schools.
“It (the loss) stings. In the first set, we came out playing on fire and everything was clicking and then the second set went the other way. We got down 7-8 points and couldn’t catch up. In the third set, our attacks did not fall in, and we couldn’t get back in sync,” said Graham.
Graham was pleased however with the Raider’s overall server-receive game in the match. “We have focused on serve receive and we did good in the match, but we have to get the ball up to the setter more cleanly. We will work on that and we will be fine,” she said.
Mount Ayr won the first set 25-17 to take a 1-0 match lead. The Bulldogs tied the match at 1-1 with a second-set win 25-19. Bedford took the steam out of the Raiders in the third set, winning 25-13 to take a 2-1 lead. Mount Ayr fought hard in the fourth set, scoring 20 points, but fell 25-20, ending the match 3 sets to 1 in favor of Bedford.
As a team, the Raiders served 64-for-78 as a team with seven ace serves. Hayden Ruggles led the way, serving 19-for-20 with six aces. Defensively, Mount Ayr had 27 digs and eight blocks in the match. Breya Nickle and Olivia Huntington led in digs with eight and six while four players each had two blocks. On offense, the Raiders had 26 kills in 105 attack attempts. Nickle led going 23-for-29 in attacks with eight kills. Abby Eaton was 15-for-21 in attacks with six kills while Aubree Shields and Ruggles each had four kills in 25 combined attacks between them.
Bedford was led by Vanessa Hill with nine kills in 23 attacks. Hill had 13 digs and served 8-for-9.
The Raiders traveled to Lenox on Monday, August 28 for a quadrangular volleyball event where they played Stanton, Clarinda, and Lenox. The Raiders will play Essex at home on Thursday before traveling to Nodaway Valley on September 5 for their first POI road match this season.
The match was the third outing for the Raiders this year. Mount Ayr had preseason scrimmages in Johnston and Creston. Graham said that her team is excited to get back to work. “We saw what worked and what didn’t. I am looking forward to getting back to working on things with the kids that we need to get corrected. We have worked hard and we are excited to get back on the court,” said Graham.
Bedford 3, Mount Ayr 1.
