Central volleyball struggles to 0-8 start

By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register

Central’s 0-8 record is not the start new coach Kelly Erickson envisioned for the volleyball season. 

Some of that record is due to the work it takes for change to have an effect, while some is due to the level of competition the team has played in the first two tournaments. However, some is self-inflicted, as players have missed practices and had to sit out sets because of it, limiting the team’s ability to get the starting rotation on the court together. 

It’s also resulted in younger players with little varsity experience being thrust into larger roles, specifically sophomore Kirsten Farmer, freshman Oakley Armstrong and foreign exchange student Eva Van Der Heide. 

This trio has “worked hard and stepped in to help the team,” Erickson said. 

Erickson also referenced the performance of several players during the opening matches, including Aly Feickert’s and Lizzie Royer’s leadership. Also notable is Tori Sylvester, who helped on both sides of the ball, and Brooklyn Amsden, who helped on offense as a middle and outside hitter at the Cascade tournament. 

“Although things are not looking like it on the scoreboard, I do see a lot of progress in how the girls are playing. Eventually, we will see a difference on the scoreboard,” Erickson said. “Hopefully, by the time we start conference play, we will have had more opportunities to work on the starting rotation.” 

The Warriors’ season got underway Aug. 23, at the Lisbon Tournament, where they came away with a single set victory in four games. 

Central dropped both sets of the first match against Lisbon by scores of 25-1 and 25-10. The offense finished with 1.5 assists from Lizzie Royer and two kills from Lexi Loan and one from Farmer. 

Defensively, Loan got the team’s one block, while Feickert had eight of 17 digs, followed by Royer with six. 

Central finished with a 64.3 percent serve efficiency and didn’t record an ace. 

The second match against Tipton was more competitive, but the Warriors dropped both sets 25-20 and 25-15.

The offense recorded eight kills, with Loan and Royer finishing with two. Royer also had all four assists. 

The defense finished with two blocks, one from Royer and the other from Sylvester, and came up with 27 digs. Loan and Feickert led with six apiece, followed by Sylvester, Royer and Scherf with four. 

Central also added three aces to the stat line—two by Royer and Gracie Cummer hitting the other—and had an improved serve efficiency of 85.7 percent. 

The Warriors remained competitive in game three against East Buchanan, but lost both sets 25-15 and 25-22. 

Royer recorded all 11 assists, while Loan led the effort with six kills, followed by Cummer, Sylvester and Feickert with two each. 

The defense spread the blocks around against the Buccaneers, with Loan, Cummer and Feickert tallying one each. Loan led the way with 20 of 59 digs, and Feickert was close behind with 17. Royer added seven digs to her stats, while Mackayla Vlazny tacked on another seven. 

Additionally, the Warriors’ finished with an 83.8 percent serve efficiency. 

In the final game of the tournament, the Warriors won the first set against Alburnett 25-21, before dropping the next two 25-17 and 15-11. 

Royer continued to be an assist machine, finishing with 16. As a team, Central compiled 16 kills, including Sylvester with nine, Loan with three and Feickert with two. 

Defensively, the Warriors finished with two blocks, one from Loan and the other from Royer. They amassed 57 digs, and three players recorded double-digit totals: Loan with 15, Feickert with 14 and Royer at 11. 

The Warriors had their best game from the service line, hitting six aces. Cummer and Scherf hit two each, while Loan and Feickert both had one. Serve efficiency was at 89.1 percent.

Central’s next four games took place at the Aug. 27 Cascade Tournament, where they finished with four losses. 

The Warriors faced Cascade in the first match, losing both sets 21-12 and 21-6. 

Royer had all six of the team’s assists and, in kills, Scherf and Feickert each had two, while Cummer and Armstrong landed one. 

The defense finished with one block from Feickert and 29 digs. Feickert led with 10, followed by Royer with seven, Scherf with six and Armstrong with five. 

The Warriors improved to a 94.1 percent serve efficiency, and Feickert recorded two aces. 

In the second game, Central lost the first set to Jesup 21-12, then dropped a hard fought second set, 21-18. 

Royer finished with all 11 assists and added three kills. Sylvester led the offense with four kills, while Scherf picked up two and Amsden and Feickert each had one. 

The defense accumulated three blocks, two by Cummer and one from Scherf, and snagged 11 digs, including five by Feickert. 

From the service line, Vlazny recorded the Warriors’ only ace, and the team finished with an 86.7 percent efficiency. 

The third game was another loss, this time to North Linn. Central kept the first set close, losing 21-17, before falling in the second set, 21-11. 

Royer continued to dominate with all 14 assists, and Sylvester finished with five of the 14 team kills. Feickert added four kills. 

Defensively, Feickert added a block to the stat sheet and the team finished with 25 digs, led by Amsden with 10, Vlazny with six and Sylvester at five. 

The Warriors struggled serving, though, hitting just two aces and earning an 86.7 percent efficiency. 

In the final game against Central City, the Warriors lost both sets, 21-7 and 21-10. 

Central had six kills, with Sylvester and Feickert recording two each, and Royer tallied all six assists. 

On defense, the Warriors managed just one block from Cummer and had 23 digs, with eight from Vlazny, five from Feickert and four from Sylvester and Royer. 

From the service line, the team had a low 58.8 percent efficiency. 

After the opening week, Erickson noted there is work to be done in several areas, including serve reception and passing accuracy. 

“The volleyball girls and I know this is something we will continue to work on as we go through the season. In order to be able to run an effective offense, we need to be able to pass the ball with better accuracy,” she said. “We are also working on the girls staying pumped up with the energy needed to play through a whole game. This includes recognizing the importance of all the roles on the team.”

The Warriors returned to the court Aug. 30, for a triangular at Central City. They will play in another tournament on Sept. 3, at Midland.