Central volleyball team gains valuable experience in two wins

By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register

Last week included nine games in the span of five days for the Central volleyball team, starting with a home quad against the Charles City Comets and Cedar Valley Christian Huskies on Sept. 3. 

The Warriors hit the court first against the Comets, dropping both sets, 21-13 and 21-9. Tessa Sylvester led the way on offense with three kills, followed by Katie Royer and Alivia Wiley with two each. Royer also displayed her versatility by leading the team with four digs, and added one block and five assists. Oakley Armstrong contributed four digs and Brylee Erickson played a key role on defense with three digs. 

The Warriors served at 74 percent, missing six serves, which is “an area we are continuing to work to improve,” said coach Kelly Erickson. 

Next up were the Huskies, in a match the Warriors “played tough and worked well together as a team, showing great cohesion and determination,” Erickson said. Central put together two solid sets, winning 25-23 and 21-15 to take the match.  

Freshman Ella Frieden led the way with an impressive six kills, followed by Wiley with three. On defense, Armstrong finished with five digs, while Royer contributed three digs. Royer added 10 assists, playing a key role in the defense and setting up the offense. 

Tori Sylvester had a perfect night at the service line, going 11-11 with three aces, which was a strong contribution to the team’s success. The Warriors also improved their serving percentage to 87 percent, despite missing six serves.  

“While we came up short against Charles City, we bounced back and secured our first win of the season by defeating Cedar Valley Christian in two sets, ending the night with a 1-1 record,” Erickson said. 

On Sept. 5, it was another quadrangular in Cresco, with the Warriors playing the Waukon Indians and Crestwood Cadets. 

The Warriors started off a little slow in the opening match with the Indians, losing the first set 25-10. Though they battled hard in the second set and made a valiant comeback, they lost 25-23. 

Tori Sylvester and Wiley led the offense, with Sylvester finishing with six kills and Wiley five. 

“It was especially encouraging to have Tori back as a leader on the court after her earlier ankle sprain,” Erickson said. 

Armstrong and Erickson had a great night on defense, with both recording 11 digs. Royer who contributed eight digs and led the team with 12 assists. 

Erickson said Central made significant improvements in serving during the match, missing only two serves and achieving an overall serving percentage of 94 percent. 

“This was a marked improvement from our previous matches and is the level of performance we aim to maintain in every game,” she said.

The two sets against Crestwood turned out to be very competitive as well, with the Warriors coming up a little short, 25-20 and 25-17. 

Royer had a standout game, serving 10-11 with one ace, while also contributing one kill, 10 assists and five digs.

“As our setter, Katie has been instrumental in running our offense and has played a crucial role in our team’s performance,” Erickson said.

Multiple players contributed to the Warriors’ offensive success, including Reese Berns and Wiley, who tallied three kills each. 

On defense, Erickson had a team high nine digs, followed by Armstrong with six. Royer and Wiley each contributed five digs, “showcasing strong defensive contributions from multiple players,” Erickson said. 

The Warriors missed only three serves, achieving a serving percentage of 92 percent. 

“[That] is exactly where we want to be, and I was very proud of our serving efforts,” Erickson said.

Central capped off the week at a tournament in Midland on Sept. 7, starting the day with 21-13 and 21-18 losses to the host school. 

Armstrong continued to be a strong presence on offense with an impressive eight kills, followed by Berns with four and Maci Keppler three. Royer led the team with 12 assists, while Erickson was a defensive standout with 12 digs, followed by Royer with six. 

Overall, the Warriors served at 87 percent, missing five serves in the two sets, which “was slightly below our desired serving percentage, but we continue to work on improving it,” Erickson said. 

The next match had the Warriors playing a tough Oelwein Huskies team, losing a close first set 21-18, but struggling in the second set, 21-8. 

“We continued to struggle on offense, plagued by many hitting errors,” Erickson said. 

Leading the way was Armstrong with four kills. Defensively, Royer earned nine digs, followed by Erickson and Wiley with seven each. 

Keppler was efficient on the serving line, going 7-7 with two aces. Overall, the Warriors only missed three serves and finished with at 89 percent, which is close to where Erickson wants the team.

The Warriors ended pool play against the Marquette Catholic Defenders, losing both sets, 21-16 and 21-13. Central was plagued by hitting errors throughout the match, finishing with 15. 

Berns was the leader on offense with three kills. On defense, Royer led with five digs, while Armstrong contributed four. Royer also added eight assists to her stat line. 

The team missed five serves and ended at 83 percent as a team. Keppler was the top individual, going 7-7 with three aces.

The long day of play ended against the Central City Wildcats, with the Warriors securing a two-set victory, 21-13 and 21-18. 

The “win highlighted our improvement and strong performance as the day progressed,” Erickson said.

Armstrong again led the team on offense with seven kills, “doing a great job throughout the day by finding the holes and placing the ball effectively,” Erickson said. Berns contributed three kills, as Royer ran the offense with eight assists.

Erickson led the defense with nine digs, followed by Armstrong with six and Royer five. 

The Warriors missed seven serves and served 83 percent, but recorded eight aces. Armstrong put up a strong performance, serving 9-10 with two aces.

As the team heads toward conference play, Erickson said, “We hope that the matches we’ve played against tough teams have helped us work out early-season nerves and build team unity. Now that everyone is healthy and we have all our players back, we aim to be a strong contender in the conference.”

The Warriors began conference play against Turkey Valley on Sept. 9. On Saturday, Sept. 14, they will travel to a tournament in Jesup.