WACO, unblemished in home tournament

WAYLAND — Four Union area volleyball teams opened their season on Monday night in the Wayland, competing in the WACO Volleyball Tournament.

WACO, Van Buren, Columbus and Pekin all took part in the season opening tournament. Centerville, Louisa-Muscatine, Sigourney and Wapello were all present as well.

Teams were separated into two pools, with WACO, Centerville, Columbus and Louisa-Muscatine in Pool A. Van Buren, Wapello, Sigourney and Pekin were placed in Pool B.

There was no championship round, as teams solely competed through pool play.

Although there was not champion crowned per se, it was the Warriors of WACO coming away with the top overall record of the night, 3-0.

The hosts looked solid in the early season competition, downing both Columbus and Louisa-Muscatine in two sets, while going the distance with three sets against Centerville.

WACO defeated Columbus in both sets 21-9 and 21-17. The Warriors then followed up with a 21-13, 19-21 and 15-6 victory over Centerville. In their final match, the Warriors thrashed Louisa-Muscatine 21-5 and 21-6.

Setter Grace Coble tallied 38 assists and 16 kills to lead the offense. Ellah Kissell racked up 16 kills and Katie Leichty finished with 11. Jocelyn Fulton was great on the defense side of things with 32 digs. As a team, WACO was successful on 122 of their 130 serve attempts with 26 aces in the three matches.

Van Buren County had a nice showing to start the season as well. The Warriors in orange picked up wins over Sigourney and Pekin. Van Buren’s one loss came from the hands of Wapello.

It took three matches for Van Buren to get past Sigourney. The Warriors took care of business in the first set 21-15, but dropped the second 19-21. After going back and forth in the third and final set, Van Buren was able to get the edge for a 16-14 victory.

In their second game, the Warriors defeated Pekin in two sets, 21-14 and 21-15. Van Buren’s lone loss to Wapello was in two sets, 21-13 and 21-14.

As for Columbus, the Wildcats played well, but only grabbed one win in the tournament. Following their loss to WACO, the Wildcats were bested by Centerville in a pair of sets, 21-16 and 21-15.

Columbus’ got its one win of the evening with a 21-10, 21-16, two set win over Louisa-Muscatine

Pekin was competitive in every match it played, but the Panthers never got a win in their three matches. Along with the loss to Van Buren, Pekin was also defeated by Wapello and Sigourney.

The Panthers lost to Sigourney 21-12 and 21-17. Against Wapello, Pekin was topped in two sets as well, 21-13 and 21-12.

POOL A FINAL STANDINGS

WACO, 3-0

Centerville, 2-1

Columbus, 1-2

L-M, 0-3

POOL B FINAL STANDINGS

Van Buren, 2-1

Wapello, 2-1

Sigourney, 2-1

Pekin, 0-3