East Atchison downs West Nodaway in two sets
HENRY JANSSEN/DAILY FORUM
West Nodaway’s Paige Hagey returns the volleyball to the East Atchison side on the third hit of the play in the first set of Tuesday’s game. The Rockets lost to the Wolves in two sets.
Although West Nodaway’s volleyball team fell to 4-18 at home on Tuesday night to a stingy East Atchison side in consecutive sets, their head coach Jennifer McGinness believes that there is optimism for her team with three games remaining before District play.
“Our girls have improved immensely since last year and since the beginning of our season,” McGinness said. “We have bad games, we have games where we get our heads tucked down, but we’re energetic for the rest of the season. Our girls had teamwork and they wanted that win. They want another win this season.”
McGinness complimented East Atchison (18-9) on being a complete team that is difficult to exploit.
“They have a strong back row. They have passers, they have hitters. It’s hard to find their holes.”
The Rockets dropped the first of two sets 25-16 in a period that was more competitive than the scoreboard indicated. East Atchison rode the momentum from a streak of six unanswered points to put the first set away. In the second set, the Wolves jumped on the Rockets quickly to win 25-10.
Even with the regular season dwindling, sophomore Brittney McIntyre says that the Rockets are just as hungry as they were when their record sat at 0-0.
“We’ll work harder and get better every day,” she said. “We’ve made a lot of progress. We’ve improved on teamwork the most. We encourage each other and bring each other up whenever we’re down. We’ve got to get our spikes and our serves better, and we will.”
Nine of East Atchison’s 50 points came from West Nodaway service errors.
Statistically, each of the five recorded categories was led by a different Rocket—an encouraging sign for a young volleyball team searching for its identity. Alissa Nelson, Mackenzie Finney, and Kristine Ecker led West Nodaway in aces, kills, and assists, respectively, each with two. Taylor Adwell recorded more digs than any other Rocket with four. Paige Hagey also recorded a pair of blocks.
Hagey, one of the Rockets’ five seniors, said that her team has the pieces in place to win matches down the stretch if they can string together points and, furthermore, sets.
“We’ve worked on hustle a lot in the past, and we have that now,” Hagey said. “We’ve worked on communication and we have that. Sometimes we have a good set, then we’ll have a not-so-good set, and we’ll stay down. We’ve got to get back up, myself included. Good times and bad times, we’ve got to work on keeping our good times all together and to have them happen all at once.
“All around, we need everyone talking, hustling, going for the ball, working together as a team, and wanting that win and the whole team getting excited. East Atchison definitely found open holes. That’s something we need to work on, covering the holes.”
West Nodaway will play at home on Thursday against Nodaway-Holt upon the conclusion of the 5:30 p.m. junior varsity game.
HENRY JANSSEN/DAILY FORUM
Brittney McIntyre of West Nodaway records a block in Tuesday’s game against East Atchison. The Rockets would go on to lose the game in consecutive sets.
HENRY JANSSEN/DAILY FORUM
Catlyn Brady and Brittney McIntyre approach the net, anticipating a set from senior Kristine Ecker. Ecker recorded a pair of assists in Tuesday’s loss to East Atchison.
