Wolves score first 16 points in sweep of WB

BY ANDY KRUTSINGER

Mt. Pleasant News

WINFIELD ? It was an ideal start to 2016 for the Winfield-Mt. Union volleyball team.

The Wolves swept the Falcons, 25-13, 28-26 and 25-19, on Thursday night, behind strong play up front and a fantastic serving day from senior libero Sophie Kongable.

After a defensive point started things out for W-MU, Kongable stepped up to serve for the first time and stunned the Falcons with 15 straight points to push the Wolves to a 16-0 start.

?It got us a really good start,? said head coach David Pieart about the streak. ?We?ve been working since last year on making her serve a little bit tougher, and it paid off today.?

West Burlington used two timeouts during the big W-MU run but nothing seemed to faze Kongable, who peppered aces throughout the run and kept the Falcon defense on their heels.

West Burlington responded with a 6-0 run of their own, but the Wolves capitalized on Falcon mistakes throughout the set to take it, 25-13.

Things seemed to be going as planned in the second set as the Wolves jumped out to another double-digit lead, but the Falcons had their best run of the game behind a serving streak from Shayleigh Abbott.

W-MU led 24-14 and needed just one more point to close out the set, but Abbott?s jump serve baffled the Wolves and West Burlington stormed back to take a 25-24 lead.

With their backs to the wall for the first time, the Wolves responded with a point to tie the game at 25-25. The teams traded points to make it 26-26, but a couple of big plays from Lauren Jamison helped W-MU escape.

Jamison first made it 27-26 on a soft kill that found its way in between a group of Falcons. She then stepped up to serve, and West Burlington sailed the return over the back line, clinching the set for W-MU, 28-26.

W-MU started the third set with a 4-0 run and never relinquished the lead. They put the Falcons away, 25-19 to complete the sweep.

Kongable finished 30-31 serving with nine aces, which led the team. Ashley Kruse and Kara Wade each had two aces and Hannah Buffington had one.

Lexee Hartsock led the team in kills, with seven. Pearl Krieger-Coble had five. Buffington and Olivia Fenton had three. Ashley Kruse had two and Jamison and Kongable had one apiece.

Jamison led the team with 13 assists. Kayla Coberly had five. Kruse and Buffington co-led the team with four blocks apiece. Kongable and Fenton were the dig leaders at 20 and 18 respectively.

After the game, Pieart talked about the experience his team brings back in 2016, and how it can help them this season.

?We were using a nine or 10 person rotation last year and we?re returning six or seven of them,? he said. ?We?re putting 10 juniors and seniors out there in our rotation. I?ll put our experience up with anybody.?

The Wolves moved to 1-0 with the win.

They?ll compete at the West Branch tournament on Saturday, Aug. 27, at 9 a.m.