Lady Jays fourth at West Sioux tourney

(Sentinel photo by Roy Tucker) Gehlen's Kayla Hatting slams the ball over the net Saturday at the West Sioux tournament in Hawarden. [Click to enlarge]

Gehlen Catholic rebounded from a tough loss at home Tuesday evening to West Sioux by posting a 2-2 record at the West Sioux tournament Saturday.

That 2-2 record was good for the Lady Jays to finish fourth overall after falling 2-1 to Woodbury Central in the consolation match.

Gehlen started the day defeated Akron-Westfield 2-0. The Lady Jays came up with a couple solid wins as they rolled over the Lady Westerners 21-12 in game one and 21-13 in game two.

(Sentinel photo by Roy Tucker) Gehlen's Lexi Wiltgen sets the ball over the net during the West Sioux tournament Saturday in Hawarden. [Click to enlarge]

Seniors Danielle Gunter and Kayla Hatting paced the squad from the service line. Gunter was a perfect 10-10 with an ace while Hatting was also perfect, serving 8-8 with two aces.

Hatting continued to lead the offense with a team-high 10 kills while Rachel Tilley smacked down three.

Gunter teamed up with Erin Hoffman from the setter's position. Hoffman dished up five assists while Gunter set up four.

Libero Kayla Holtgrewe was a perfect 11-11 passing the ball while Lexi Wiltgen also had a perfect passing match at 9-9.

Brittney Schlichte, Tilley and Hatting each posted one block on defense.

As pool play continued, the Lady Jays grabbed their second win over Whiting. In the 2-0 win, Gehlen dominated the Warriors 21-6 in game one and 21-10 in game two.

Wiltgen shined for the Lady Jays against Whiting, posting perfect numbers from the service line and in passing. The junior hitter served up three aces as she was a perfect 8-8 from the line. She was 7-7 passing and also led Gehlen with a team-high five kills.

Schlichte added three kills on offense. The setting duo of Hoffman and Gunter combined for eight assists in the match.

Tilley led the Lady Jays with four aces as she served 6-7 in the match.

No blocks were recorded for the Lady Jays, due to a lack of spiking by Whiting, according to Gehlen coach Mike Meyer.

In their final match of pool play, the Lady Jays fell 2-1 to George-Little Rock.

The Mustangs were victorious in a close game one, winning 21-17. But Gehlen battled back to take a commanding 21-15 win in game two. Unfortunately, the Lady Jays were unable to hang on in game three as the Mustangs won 15-11.

Junior Jessie Timmins stepped it up in the match against G-LR, leading the Lady Jays at the net with seven kills. Hatting was right behind her with six kills.

Gunter paved the way for the offense, setting up 12 assists. Hoffman added six assists in the match.

Wiltgen and Holtgrewe were the passing leaders for Gehlen, with Wiltgen completing 15-16 passes while Holtgrewe completed 11-13.

Gunter recorded the Lady Jays' only ace in the match as she served 11-12. Hatting was a perfect 10-10 while Holtgrewe sunk a perfect 9-9 from the service line.

On defense, Tilley had two blocks while Hatting had one.

With a 2-1 record in pool play, the Lady Jays faced Woodbury Central in the consolation round of the tournament.

The Lady Jays bounced to an early 1-0 lead as they edged the Wildcats 25-22 in game one. But the Wildcats got the advantage in game two with a 26-24 win. Woodbury Central rode that momentum into game three, which they won 15-11 to take third place at the tournament. Gehlen finished fourth overall.

Hatting paced the squad on offense with nine kills in the match. Wiltgen smacked down four to add the the effort.

Gunter set up the offense with 11 assists. Freshman Amber Timmins teamed up with the senior to add seven assists.

Holtgrewe was nearly perfect passing 28-30 while Wiltgen completed 11-of-13 passes.

From the service line, Hatting had a team-high four aces as she sunk 12-14 serves. Gunter added an ace in her 13-14 effort while Holtgrewe was a perfect 8-8.

"Our performance at this tournament was a bit of a mixed bag," Meyer said. "But I think we did take at least a small step forward."

"We competed against good teams - George-Little Rock and Woodbury Central - better than we have in the past and put ourselves in positions to win those matches. Unfortunately, we still made crucial errors at 'crunch time.'"

Meyer continued to explain, "In volleyball, which is a sport in which errors play such a prominent role, it is critical for us to learn how to cut down on those untimely mistakes and play to win throughout the completion of games. Our schedule will give us many opportunities to work on this, so I feel we will get better at this."

Gehlen's next opportunity will come soon as they face Hinton on the road Tuesday in a War Eagle Conference match-up.

While Meyer recognized that the Lady Jays played well in their first two pool play matches, he also sees the need for improvements when it comes to tougher opponents.

"We did play well in our first two pool matches, but they were against teams that were either unable or not ready to compete with us," Meyer said. "We need to learn to play with the wind in our face so we can play through crisis situations in tough matches."

Meyer is hopeful that Tuesday's match-up with Hinton will be a starting point for that "wind-in-the-face" play he described.

[Notes: Digging statistics were not available for Gehlen for the tournament due to a new stats-keeper. Statistics were not available at press time for Akron-Westfield - who also competed in the tournament at Hawarden. Results from the Lady Westerners' play will be included when available.]