House 2
Login | Register
Fair ~ 14°F  
[Le Mars Daily Sentinel]
Le Mars, Iowa ~ Friday, December 5, 2008
Print Email link Respond to editor Post comment

K-P netters win BC-IG tournament

Monday, September 22, 2008

After finishing second at the Battle Creek-Ida Grove tournament last fall with a loss to Sergeant Bluff-Luton, Kingsley-Pierson enjoyed a clean sweep of the tournament Saturday, posting a 4-0 record on the day to claim the championship.

The Lady Panthers faced Odebolt-Arthur first thing Saturday morning, defeating the Western Valley Conference opponent 2-0.

"We came out pretty strong in that match," K-P coach Jon Mouw said of his squad.

K-P had already defeated the Trojanettes in a clean 3-0 sweep (25-13, 25-19, 25-18) earlier this season in a league match-up.

Senior Briana Schaeuble paved the way for K-P in the first match of the day, smacking down eight kills to lead the squad. Kelsey Krieg dished up 16 assists to set up the offense for the Lady Panthers in the win.

Schaeuble and Krieg matched each other at the service line, both recording a pair of aces and serving 100 percent in the match.

Schaeuble continued to shine on defense, joining freshman Deandra Mahrt to record two blocks each.

Dani Sudbeck paced the defense from the back row, digging up seven hits to lead K-P.

After their solid win in the first match, the Lady Panthers struggled at the start of their second match, where they faced Manson Northwest Webster.

"They got us in the first game," Mouw said. "We came out a little flat and had to battle to win in the second game, but we won the third."

Schaeuble paced the Lady Panthers with 15 kills in the match while Amanda Dirksen slammed down six kills. Krieg set up the offense for K-P with 21 assists in the match.

Krieg, Schaeuble and Dirksen rocked the service line for K-P, serving two aces each.

Sudbeck held up the defense from the back row with six digs while Mahrt blocked two spikes in the front row.

The Lady Panthers grabbed their third win of the tournament with a 2-0 defeat of Sergeant Bluff-Luton.

Krieg set up 10 assists for the Lady Panther offense, which was led by Schaeuble with 11 kills.

Mahrt sent a team-high three ace serves soaring to add to K-P's offense.

Sudbeck paced the defense with four digs.

With three wins under their belts, the Lady Panthers completed their sweep of the five-team round robin tournament by defeating the host BC-IG 2-1.

Schaeuble and Dirksen teamed up on offense to smack down over 15 combined kills. Schaeuble recorded 11 while Dirksen had seven.

Krieg stepped things up offensively from the setter's position, slamming four kills down on the Falcons' defense. She dished up 16 assists in the match.

Adding to K-P's offense were Krieg and Dirksen, who each served a pair of aces.

On defense, Sudbeck was solid in the back row with six digs. Schaeuble joined up with Ashley Ruba at the net to record three blocks apiece.

"It was really good for the girls to get that win," Mouw said of the tournament.

"It was a good confidence booster. The girls went out and played pretty well, so it was a good day all around."

On the day, Schaeuble was a big difference-maker for the Lady Panthers at the net. "I bet [Briana's] hitting percentage for the tournament was close to .500 or .600," Mouw said. "She just had a phenomenal tournament hitting-wise, especially against Sergeant Bluff."

"Amanda [Dirksen] was also hitting really, really well," Mouw added.

Mouw credits a major part of the squad's hitting success to improvements in the passing game. "It's good to see our passing is starting to come around on free balls," Mouw said.

"That's showing up for [the girls] in the kills column."

Even better, Mouw says, "That's what we want to see going into the conference tournament."

K-P (10-4, 3-1) will play at Holstein Saturday in the pool play round of the Western Valley Conference tournament.

Before that, however, the Lady Panthers host a league match-up with Remsen-Union on Tuesday evening.

"I just think they can have their times where they can play pretty tough," Mouw said of the cross-county opponent. "We need to just show up and do our thing."

But Mouw is confident that his squad won't let a conference match-up shake their confidence.

"I think we're getting to that point where we go out and do what we do," he said.

"In the past with younger players, it tends to be one of those things where the girls play at the level of their competition, but we're getting to that point where we can play our volleyball no matter what."



Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration. If you already have an account on this site, enter your username and password below. Otherwise, click here to register.

Username:

Password:  (Forgot your password?)

Your comments:
Please be respectful of others and try to stay on topic.

Mailing list
Enter your email address to join our daily headline mailing list: