Two volleyball teams that are competing in Class 2A for the first time in several years will meet to begin the postseason when AGWSR hosts North Butler in a 2A Region 1 first round match Monday. It’ll air on 104.9 KLMJ.
The Cougars (13-25) will begin their postseason with hopes of continuing with the same intensity shown in last week’s home triangular, where they upset #5 (1A) BCLUW and fell by four total points to Jesup.
Against the Comets, the Cougars recorded a season-high 57 digs as a team along with serving at 94 percent. Head Coach Jill Smith says being able to consistently perform at such a level will be a key to a deep run.
“I feel like especially defensively, we’ve made some really good adjustments towards the latter half of the year here,” Smith says. “Just being a little more gritty, really working to be scrappy and get hands on the ball and keep the ball in play. I feel like our service game has kind of been up and down, but again, strong on Tuesday night. And offensively, I feel like we’ve been able to overcome a few things and be a little bit more consistent.”
Elise Olson’s 1.7 kills per set leads the team.
North Butler (9-20) has taken a positive step recently, with six of the nine wins happening in October.
“We fell short a lot of games just not being able to finish a game,” North Butler coach Sarah Goodrich says. “Really just focusing on the fact that every point matters and taking it one ball at a time, no matter where you’re at. The game of volleyball is such a high and low game. And so building that mental toughness. It doesn’t matter where you’re at in the game, but you can always bounce back and play our game until the final whistle. So this month has been great for us, just coming together better than ever and building that confidence. We stay aggressive even when we are down, because I think that was a huge aspect of some of our losses, is we got a little timid and stop swinging. And when you’re not swinging at the other teams, then they’re just going to give it back to you and let you make the mistakes. So staying aggressive in the offense this month has been huge for us.”
The Bearcats are on a season-long three-match win streak, having gone 2-0 at a triangular at West Hancock Thursday. Olivia Dralle’s 2.1 kills per set leads the team.
The winner will advance to Wednesday’s quarterfinal at #1 (2A) Denver. Jon Mohwinkle will call the action with pregame coverage at 6:40 p.m., which will include interviews with both head coaches. The first serve will be at 7:00.
Jill Smith interview:
Sarah Goodrich interview:
