~Courtesy of The Scranton Journal
The Greene County volleyball team improved to 8-8 on the season with two losses and three victories at the South Hardin Tournament in Eldora Saturday, Sept. 14. They lost their first conference match in Jewell Thursday against South Hamilton in four sets.
Greene County at S. Hamilton Sept. 12
Greene County won the second set 25-19 against South Hamilton after a very close 22-25 tally in the first game. The third set was also 22-25, but the Hawks put the victory away in the fourth and deciding game 25-17.
Lily Muir led the team with 10 kills, followed by Brianna Osterson with eight and Harleigh Weir with four. Aubrey Heupel set 21 assists.
Paige Heaning topped the defense with 10 digs while Weir recorded nine. Muir blocked three SH hits.
Heupel delivered three aces in 11/14 serves. Weir also had three in a 14/15 stand at the line. The team went 77/86 on the day for 89 percent.
“We started sets one and two by giving up five points right off the bat,” lamented coach Chris Heisterkamp. “Both times, we fought back to tie the score, then it was back and forth. Set two was especially sweet when we took advantage of some Hawk errors, pulled ahead and finished with a win. Set three was close the whole way with so many good volleys. Our passing in sets one, two and three was very good, which leads to awesome hitting opportunities. But in set four, we let a few too many passes get away from us, and couldn’t get back in an offensive groove.
“All in all, I feel our girls stepped it up another notch and competed longer and harder than we have anytime before. We had a team strategy coming in, knowing South Hamilton liked to tip a lot. We were ready for that and shut them down in that area. I was very proud of their effort, focus and tenacity.”
South Hardin tournament Sept. 14
Greene County won the consolation bracket at the South Hardin Tournament Saturday. After losing the first two matches, the team settled down to win three.
The Rams won the first set over Gladbrook-Reinbeck 27-25 but fell in the next two 17-21 and 6-15. Lily Muir led the team in kills with seven. Paige Heaning collected 10 digs. The team served 44/48 for 91 percent.
The Rams took the second match from AGWSR 21-18 but dropped games one and three 15-21 and 12-15. Muir had eight kills and three ace serves while Brianna Osterson topped the team with eight digs. The team served 85 percent, their lowest of the day, successfully hitting 39 of 46 attempts.
Greene County won the third match in their pool, defeating Olewein 21-7 and 21-15. Muir collected seven kills, Osterson had five digs and Sophia Havens led the serving stats with 11/11 and an ace. The team stroked 41/43 for 95 percent.
In consolation play, the Rams beat Saydel 21-14 and 21-11 with Muir topping the stats with five kills and Heaning with seven digs. Osterson fired two aces in 13/14 serves. The team was good on 49 of 52 serves for 94 percent.
Aubrey Heupel was the setter in all five matches. She set 53 assists on the day.
At the end of the day, Muir recorded 30 kills, Osterson 14 and Natalie Heupel, six.
From the service line, Osterson successfully fired 42/44 with six aces. Muir went 36/41 with five aces; Havens 37/38 and two aces, and Heupel 35/37 and two ace serves.
“This was a good day for Greene County volleyball,” said coach Heisterkamp. “We had a sluggish start to the morning, but after regrouping, we fought back to play our longest set of the day, ultimately winning 27-25. We had some close matches in pool play, all of which had exciting, extended volleys.
“We ended the day with two wins in the consolation bracket, finishing with a come-from-behind win against Grand View Christian. Our serving was outstanding, with 95.7 percent for the day. Some of our best passing came during our final match, which shows how well our girls focused and dug down deep at the end of a long, grueling day.”
