When the dust settled from the day of volleyball action last Saturday, one thing was crystal clear. All the visiting teams taking part in this year’s Cowgirl Invitational were no match for the third-rated (3A) home team as the Cowgirls easily took another title.
They shut out Eagle Grove 21-0 and 21-0. Jondle served at 21 of 21 with nine aces, while Lexie Lane went 20 of 20 with two. Morgan Middleton led with five kills, with Lane at four and Kendall Lienemann three.
The home ladies defeated South Hamilton by scores of 21-9 and 21-10. Jondle went 11 of 11 with an ace, while Friesleben made 21 assists. Middleton had nine kills and Lienemann seven, with Morgan also making five digs and Jondle four. Lane and Friesleben had a solo block each.
They got the best of Clear Lake by scores of 21-8 and 21-8. Lienemann served at 11 of 13, while Friesleben went 8 of 8 with two aces. Alaina also made 22 assists for the hitters, with Middleton in double digits at 12 kills. Jondle had seven digs and Lienemann and Middleton a solo block apiece.
They got the measure of North Butler by scores of 21-9 and 21-10. Friesleben and Middleton were both 9 of 9 with an ace each, while Lane went 9 of 10. Friesleben made 20 assists, Middleton 15 kills and Jondle eight digs.
They took care of Estherville-Lincoln Central by scores of 21-11 and 21-7. Lane and Middleton were both 6 of 7 in serves, with Lexie getting three aces and Morgan one. Friesleben set the ball for 17 assists, helping Middleton to record 10 kills and Lienemann six. Jondle has six digs and Summer Traub two solo blocks.
“We started the season strong by going 5-0 on the day,” stated head coach Katrina TerHark. “It was great to be able to play again. We were able to hold most opponents to less than double digits. Our team came out and dominated the day. A few of our goals for this day were to side out on the first serve receive, push the tempo offensively and play scrappy, hard defense. We really did a great job in reaching those goals. When we serve receive so tough it gives us the opportunity to run a fast tempo offense. Alaina was able to mix up the offensive attack with fast tempo sets, which allowed the hitters to see the open court to mix up their hitting, tipping and roll shots to find the open spots. Our defense is so tight that if we are out of system, it’s hard to tell because our ball handling and court awareness is so good we make out of system play look easy. I was also very impressed with our subs all day long. They came in, filled their role and cheered on their teammates, They communicated with players on the court to see what was open defensively. What a team mentality! Thanks to everyone who helped make the day a huge success!”
