GRUNDY CENTER – Grundy Center volleyball made a compelling opening statement last Tuesday night.
The 10th-ranked Spartans smacked Hudson 25-8 in the first set of a season-opening sweep and then fought off a tough AGWSR squad for a 2-0 start to the season in a home triangular at Grundy Center High School.
Grundy defeated Hudson 25-8, 25-17 and vanquished the Cougars, 25-22, 25-21.
“We came out of the gate firing right away, we were hitting missiles.” Spartan coach Lori Willis said. “It just shows the girls how well they can play and how much better they can get from here. And it got the gym electric and really loud.”
Carlie Willis had eight kills on 14 attacks in the win against Hudson, Lainy Thoren added five kills and eight digs. Lucy Lebo led the defense with eight digs; Ellery Luhring distributed 11 assists and had a team-leading five aces on 10-of-10 serving.
Hudson was as close as 20-17 in the second set before a 5-0 finish for the Spartans, accentuated with Carlie’s eighth and final kill of the match.
AGWSR fell behind the Spartans 15-10 in the first set and battled back within 23-22 after a Lila Vaughn kill, but an Ella Barragy kill and AGWSR hitting error resulted in the first set going to the Spartans.
The teams were tied at 14-all in the second set before a 4-point Spartan run – the Cougars were no closer than three points the rest of the way.
“We had to make sure to adjust to Brynn [Smith], she’s a very dynamic hitter,” Willis said. “We also needed to pick up our serving to be more aggressive.”
Thoren had nine kills and 11 digs for the Spartans. Carlie Willis added eight kills and six digs, Lucy Lebo brought up nine digs and had three ace serves. Brynn Smith had seven kills for the Cougars and Lila Vaughn added five kills and two blocks. Trevyn Smith had 16 assists and two ace serves.
“When we get the ball in system and have all our options, that’s what we need,” AGWSR head coach Jill Smith said. “And we’re kinda playing not to lose, we need to make sure we’re staying aggressive and attacking the ball.”
Once again, Grundy Center’s strength as a perennial volleyball power shone through, with established threats like Thoren and Willis mixing well with newbies like Shirley Monaghan, who had four kills in the win against AGWSR.
“The girls are willing to step up and it’s great to see them all mixed in,” Lori Willis said. “Lainy was very strategic out there, letting everybody know what to watch for and if this happened, this was what we were gonna do. And that makes my job a lot easier.”
Thoren enters her senior year after averaging 2.0 kills per set as a junior.
“Communication is the key to our success,” Thoren said. “That’s what we’re really good at this year. … I’m so impressed with [the younger girls’] desire to learn and get better. We’ll make mistakes, we’ll lose points, but coming back from that and willing to be better every day is something we strive for in practice, and it’s obviously showing up.”
AGWSR won the other match of the day, beating Hudson 25-21, 25-21.
“I was super proud of the way that they fought and battled,” Smith said. “That’s something that you can’t teach, that’s inside of you. And the things that we didn’t execute on, especially at the end of the second set against Grundy, those are things we can get better on, but the fight and the fire is there – we just have to keep working in the gym.”
In the first set with Hudson, AGWSR built a 19-15 lead on a 4-0 run spurred by several Hudson miscues, and Brynn Smith slammed three kills in the Cougars’ final six points toward victory.
“I thought we came out a little bit tentative,” Smith said, “which was to be expected with a lot of young kids, lot of people in new positions, but I thought we settled in a little bit better.”
Trailing 10-8 in the second set, AGWSR went on a 10-1 tear that included two Trevyn Smith aces and four Brynn Smith kills.
The Pirates battled at match point, fending the Cougars off until a hitting error ended the match at 25-21.
Brynn Smith terminated a team-leading 12 kills on 25 attempts for the Cougars in the win against Hudson and added a Cougar-best 10 digs. Tori Metzgar added eight digs and Trevyn Smith distributed 15 assists and was 14-of-16 from the service line with four aces.
