VOLLEYBALL

Lady Dragon Volleyball

by Coach Joell Matlack

The Halstead Lady Dragon Volleyball Team moved to 17-7 (2-1 in league) after Tuesday night’s matches in Lyons. The varsity started the night with a commanding win over Lyons in two sets (25-7, 25-9). In serving, Alyssa Talbott was 17/17 and Lauren Wells served 10 out of 11. Aubrie VanSteenburg led in hitting, with 15 kills on 20 attempts and only 1 error. Miranda Daniels added 3 kills on 6 attempts, and Victoria Maurath had 4 kills. Aubrie VanSteenburg had 2 ace blocks. Morgan Matlack had 21 assists for the match, and defensively, Alyssa Talbott had 10 digs, while Lauren Wells contributed 5.

In the last match of the night, the Dragons were overpowered by the Central Christian Cougars. This is the second time we have lost to Central Christian this season.  I really thought we would have the advantage this time around, but errors on our part, especially in serve receive and hitting, were our downfall.  VanSteenburg had a strong hitting game, connecting on 19 kills. She also had 10 digs for the match. Talbott was strong in serve receive, with 15 (2.53 average passing). Wells served 7/7 and had 4 digs. Shelby Howard was 5/5 in serving, with 1 ace. She also had 3 kills. Maurath served 100% (7/7) and added a kill. Sydney Beat had 2 ace serves on 8/8 attempts.

JV matches (by Laura Jordan):
Central Christian  game
16 to 25 CC won
25 to 14 HHS won
15 to 10 HHS won

As a team, we are fundamentally getting better.  We were in the right positions defensively, which helped us get better attacks against CCH.  Mattie Warner was a key in this win, as she had several kills and played the net well.  Everyone communicated much better in the last two games, which led to our win.  Everyone served well, leading to a lot of points.

Lyons game
19 to 25
20 to 25

We played Lyons much better this time around; again we played fundamentally well.  Struggled with communication at times which led to getting down by several points.  Girls continued to fight which led us to coming back in both games.

Lady Dragon Volleyball

Marion Tournament: Sept 17th

The Varsity girls played in the Marion Tournament on Saturday, September 17th. The girls were ready to compete and came out of pool play undefeated. They beat Marion (25-18, 25-13), Canton Galva (25-14, 25-15), and Sedgwick (25-20, 25-17). In the semi finals, the girls were not able to overcome Eureka (lost 23-25, 22-25). We had too many unforced errors – balls hit out of bounds or in the net and missed serves. We also held back and played a little scared against Eureka. The loss was a disappointment to the team, and though it was tough, I believe it will ultimately bring them closer together as they continue into tough league play. They rallied back and defeated Berean Academy for  third place, 25-4, 25-20. The first set against Berean is probably the best volleyball we have played all year.
**Aubrie VanSteenburg was named to the seven member all-tournament team.
Stat Averages/Highlights for the Marion Tournament:
Alyssa Talbott: 100% serving, , 2.45 serve receive average,  3.6 digs/set
Aubrie VanSteenburg:  7 ace serves, 8.5 kills/set, 4.1 digs/set
Lauren Wells: 97% serving, 2 digs/set
Marcy Thomas: 11 kills
Miranda Daniels: 11 kills
Morgan Matlack: 13.5 assists/set, 3 digs/set
Sara Littlejohn: 12 kills
Shelby Howard: 2.5 kills/set, 7 blocks
Sydney Beat: 96% serving, 8 ace serves, 2.4 serve receive average, 2.3 digs/set
Victoria Maurath: 14 kills, 1.9 digs/set, 97% serving

Enjoy the LATEST ALBUMS of the Lady Dragons at Marion (Click Here)

Triangular @ Pratt – Sept. 13th:

C Team is Improving: (comments by Joshua Johnson, C Team Coach)
The Lady Dragon C Team had a busy week. They played in a tournament in Hesston on Thursday, September 15th, getting some good experience with top competition. The C Team then travelled to Hoisington for a tournament on September 17th. The tournament started with a game against host Hoisington, who played very well.  We played well as a team, as the ladies adjusted to having a libero.  Communication went pretty well, passes were better and overall, improvement could be seen, although there is still a long way to go.  After a break, we played Lyons and had a bit of a drop off in our match against them, before rebounding against Hesston.  Although we didn't win the game, we had a better showing against them compared to just two days earlier.  We finished the day with Great Bend, where the length of the day took its toll on some of our ladies, with two in particular feeling ill (one had to be pulled as she felt too sick).  As a team, our passing has improved, communication is better, but still needs to improve and the ladies need to focus on defensive positioning throughout a game.

Allie King was very strong as the libero and Haley Shirley has shown a great deal of improvement as a middle hitter, including getting several blocks on Thursday night and Saturday.  Everyone is getting better and needs to continue their strides in practice and on game days.

Varsity Tournament - Goessel Kansas  Sept. 10th

 By Coach Joell Matlack

We defeated Burrton in the second match 25-9, 25-8. All of the girls contributed to make this a fun win. As a team we had 15 serving aces. Matlack was 14/14 serving (6 aces). She also had 19 assists. Talbott had near perfect game in serving and serve receive. She also had 8 digs. Maurath was 7/8 in serving, utilizing her jump serve she has been working on. Marcy Thomas played well with 3 kills. Miranda Daniels continues to improve and added 1 kill. VanSteenburg had 10 kills and 5 digs for the match. Littlejohn and Howard both had 4 kills.

In the next match we defeated Canton Galva 25-18, 25-15. In both of these sets, the Lady Dragons went point for point with the Eagles, until the 15 point mark. Morgan Matlack had one of her best matches of the day with 6 kills, 19 assists, and 5 digs. She made some smart decisions to get us past some unforced errors. Victoria Maurath is stepping up on defense, adding 4 digs to the game. Alyssa Talbott was 100% in serving, and her serve receive was impressive. She also had 8 digs. Lauren Wells had 4 digs and was 7/7 serving. Sydney Beat had 11 good serve receives and 4 digs. Shelby Howard is still playing strong and added 4 kills. Aubrie VanSteenburg had 8 serving aces for the match, 11 kills, and 3 blocks. Her play at the net is crucial for our team. Marcy Thomas had 2 kills.

In the semifinal match, we took on the home team, the Goessel Bluebirds. The girls were able to play as a team to defeat the Bluebirds 25-22, 25-17. Talbott continued to serve and receive well for us. She also had 8 digs against their strong hitters. VanSteenburg had 16 kills, 6 ace serves, and 14 digs for the match. As setter, Matlack had 22 assists, 3 kills, and 7 digs. Miranda Daniels stepped up her defense for 3 digs and Wells continued to serve well, going 100% for the match. Sara Littlejohn was impressive with 3 kills on 5 attack attempts. Maurath went 7/8 serving, Howard had 2 kills, and Sydney Beat added 2 digs.

(Join the Photo Journal today and see all of the pictures from Saturdays tournament, Click Here)

The Lady Dragons met Central Christian in the finals of the tournament, but were defeated in 2 sets, 22-25, 22-25. It was a tough match for our girls. They didn’t pass or dig well, which is what you have to do against a team with a strong hitter like they have. We didn’t get our offense set up like we needed to put them in defensive positions. Well, Talbott, Maurath, and Beat were 100% from the serving line. Marcy Thomas had 2 kills for the match, and Howard added 4. VanSteenburg had 13 kills, 2 blocks, and 9 digs. Matlack had 18 assists and 6 digs. Overall, I was very pleased with the girls’ efforts throughout the day. It was a disappointing end to the tournament, but I am proud of the way they are playing as a team and working towards a common goal. We will meet Central Christian again next Tuesday in a non-league match.

JV Tournament  Lyons Kansas  Sept. 10th

Brooke Marshall continues to lead the team as the setter.  She is vocal and encourages her teammates to be better. Mattie Warner continues to grow as one of our two middle hitters. She is hitting the ball much better and her blocking continues to improve. Alex Wright is our other middle hitter who continues to improve also.  She is a great vocal leader for our team. Jena Black is an outside hitter for HHS JV who is really connecting with the ball and getting some good hits.  Ryah Ritthaler played on the front row as an outside hitter.  She is still getting used to playing this position, but did a great job over the weekend.  She was  able to find the open spots against the opponents. Jordan White plays front row and back row.  She passed very well over the weekend and that allowed us to get good attacks on the opponent.  Allie King played back row and does a great job of moving her feet and getting passes up to the setter. Hannah Keiser and Anna Tenyerri  also saw some good minutes in the tournament.

By Coach Joell Matlack
Varsity:
We had our first home matches on Tuesday, Sept. 6th against non-league competitors, Conway  Springs and Wichita Trinity. The  varsity squad started the night strong with a commanding win over Conway Springs in two sets, 25-13 and 25-9. Against Conway we served 96% as a team.  Offensively, Aubrie VanSteenburg led with 17 kills. Shelby Howard had one of her best matches, adding her season high, 7 kills. Morgan Matlack had 23 assists. Victoria Maurath, outside hitter, had 3 strong kills. Defensively, Alyssa Talbott led in digs with 11. Sydney Beat had 7. Sara Littlejohn, Victoria Maurath, Shelby Howard, and Aubrie VanSteenburg added strong blocking.

In the third match of the night, the varsity also defeated Wichita Trinity in three sets, 25-19, 21-25, and 26-24. The last match was a battle, but the girls fought through some adversity and errors to get the win. I am proud of the girls for coming together as a team and finding a way to finish the match. Alyssa Talbott had a strong match; 100% serving (18/18) and 20 digs, her season high. She also had 25 serve receives. Miranda Daniels was a key player this game as well, adding 2 key kills at crucial times in the match. Morgan Matlack had 38 assists, 12 digs, and 10/10 serving. Aubrie VanSteenburg had 32 kills and 4 blocks. Victoria Maurath had 3 kills, and Lauren Wells went 9/10 from the serving line.

The girls came out ready to play. We emphasized better passing and serve receive in the practices leading up to these matches – when we pass well we can attack the ball and cause our opponents to play out of system. Our players had their best passing night of the season.

JV Squad Making Improvements:
The Halstead JV Volleyball team played Conway Springs and Wichita Trinity on Tuesday, Sept. 6th. In the first match against Conway, Halstead lost the first set. In the second set, the girls improved on their serve receive and passing, leading to a win. The Lady Dragons were down in the third set, but determination and teamwork brought them back to win the set and the match, giving them their first win of the season. Coach Laura Jordan said that players Alex Wright and Brooke Marshall demonstrated great leadership skills during the game by hustling and communicating well with the rest of the team.
The JV girls were defeated by Wichita Trinity in the last match of the night.