~by Taylor Teays for The Scranton Journal
With one loss followed by three wins last week, the Greene County volleyball team is on a hot streak this season.
On Monday, Aug. 28, the team traveled to Boone, facing the Kuemper Catholic Knights and the Boone Toreadors. The Rams faced the Knights first, falling in two games, 25-18 and 25-22. Game leaders included Violet Reedy with seven assists, Kaylee Stalder with four kills, Emma Shipley with two blocks and Graci Cooklin with seven digs. The team served at 92-percent.
“Our passing was absolutely amazing from the first whistle. Our libero, Graci Cooklin, had a fantastic night in the back row,” commented coach Chris Heisterkamp. “Unfortunately, our hitters and setters struggled to terminate the plays in the match against Kuemper. We passed and served well, but everything else was not up to our potential.”
After the loss, the Rams were able to brush themselves off and pick up a 2-1 win over Boone. The Toreadors took the first game 25-18, but the Rams rallied and took the next two, 25-21 and 15-9. Reedy once again led in assists with 15, Shipley had seven kills and Payton Kokenge had one block. Cooklin had 14 digs in the game, with Stalder acing her serves twice, with all 11 of her serves being effective.
“Against Boone, we were again playing below our potential, and serving was disappointing, but we stuck it out and poured on the offensive power late in the match to get the win,” added Heisterkamp.
The team traveled to Rockwell City on Tuesday for a triangular against Panorama and South Central Calhoun, winning both matches. Against Panorama, the Rams took all three sets going 25-14, 25-14 and 25-13. Game leaders were Reedy with 23 assists, Stalder with 15 kills, Cooklin with 10 digs and Stalder with four aces.
The hot streak continued against South Central Calhoun, where the Rams won in three, with set scores of 27-25, 25-23 and 25-21. Stalder, Shipley and Kokenge each had seven kills, with Osterson and Baugh with four each. Cooklin had a whopping 23 digs in the game, with Baugh at nine and Reedy with three. Shipley had three blocks, Baugh had one.
Heisterkamp had great things to say about the team: “The match against South Central Calhoun was epic, extremely hard-fought, and a night-and-day difference from our previous night of lackluster performance. We got down 5-11 in the first set due to early struggles with service errors, then we chipped away at the deficit and went back and forth with long intense volleys. We were feeling the pressure, but our back row had some amazing digs to keep us alive.”
“Tonight, I can report we played very well,” added Heisterkamp.
Carroll Kuemper 2 – Greene County 0
Assists: Violet Reedy 7; Lila Osterson 1; Emma Ewalt 1; Natalee Baugh 6
Blocks: Emma Shipley 2; Osterson 2
Digs: Shipley 1; Hailey Carman 7; Reedy 7; Payton Kokenge 2; Kaylee Stalder 2; Osterson 2; Ewalt 5; Baugh 7; Graci Cooklin 7
Serves: Carman 5/5, 1 ace; Reedy 6/7, 1 ace; Kokenge 6/6; Stalder 5/6; Osterson 4/4; Ewalt 2/2; Baugh 6/6; Cooklin 4/5
Greene County 2 – Boone 1
Assists: Emma Shipley 1; Violet Reedy 15; Lila Osterson 1; Natalee Baugh 4; Graci Cooklin 1
Blocks: Emma Shipley 1; Payton Kokenge 1; Lila Osterson 1
Digs: Hailey Carman 4; Reedy 4; Kokenge 6; Kaylee Stalder 1; Osterson 5; Baugh 12; Cooklin 14
Serves: Carman 2/3; Reedy 7/9, 1 ace; Kokenge 8/9; Stalder 11/11, 2 aces; Osterson 6/6; Baugh 7/7; Cooklin 12/12
Greene County 3 – Panorama 0
Assists: Violet Reedy 35; Kaylee Stalder 1; Natalee Baugh 1; Graci Cooklin 2
Blocks: Emma Shipley 2; Lila Osterson 1; Baugh 1
Digs: Shipley 1; Hailey Carman 5; Reedy 9; Payton Kokenge 4; Stalder 4; Osterson 2; Baugh 4; Cooklin 12
Serves: Carman 1/3; Reedy 18/18, 1 ace; Kokenge 12/14, 1 ace; Stalder 10/13, 4 aces; Osterson 5/5; Baugh 5/6, 1 ace; Cooklin 16/17, 2 aces
Greene County 3 – South Central Calhoun 0
Assists: Violet Reedy 23; Paton Kokenge 2; Kaylee Stalder 1
Blocks: Emma Shipley 3; Natalee Baugh 1; Graci Cooklin 1
Digs: Hailey Carman 2; Reedy 3; Kokenge 2; Stalder 2; Natalee Baugh 9; Cooklin 23
Serves: Shipley 8/9; Carman 0/1; Reedy 11/13, 1 ace; Kokenge 11/13, 1 ace; Osterson 13/15; Baugh 9/12, 3 aces; Cooklin 11/12
