Griswold scrambling after fast start; East Mills wins match

The Tigers volleyball team is trying to regroup after a quick 2-0 start was followed by three consecutive losses.

Led by senior middle-hitter Jenny Mortensen (12 kills) and Britany Elwood (nine serve aces), Griswold won the first game of the season over Orient-Macksburg, 3-1.

Middle-hitter Kelsey Palmer stepped up, leading the team with six kills, against the South Page Rebels, in the Tigers’ first-game win (2-0) at the Clarinda Tournament.

From there the Tigers struggled, losing the next three games to St. Albert (2-1), Shenandoah (2-0), and Villisca (2-0).

The Tigers return home to face the undefeated CAM-Anita Cougars Thursday.

The 3-0 Cougars are averaging 7 serve aces per game, and are led by junior hitters Faith McCunn (17 kills) and Mariah Mailander (18 kills).

Saturday, the Tigers are hosting the Griswold Tournament.

MALVERN – The East Mills Wolverines traveled to Fremont-Mills Tuesday to face Tarkio, Mo., Sidney, and hosts in a non-conference quadrangular.

Led by Jensen Duysen (six kills) and Kara Helbling (five kills), the Wolverines won their first game against Tarkio, 25-19, but then dropped the second 25-23 and the tie-breaking game 15-10.

“We were happy with the great hustle plays and the effort,” Head Coach Connie Blank said. “We played well the first game of each match but mentally broke down the second, especially in the Sidney and Fremont-Mills matches.”

Against Sidney, East Mills lost both games 25-23 and 25-10, despite Gab Roenfeld’s six served aces.

In the third match, Fremont-Mills defeated the Wolverines 25-20, 25-9.

The Wolverines travel to Stanton, Tuesday, and host the Villisca Blue Jays, Thursday in the first two matches of Conference play.

ESSEX – After a slow start at the Fairfax, Mo. Tournament, the Essex Trojanettes come out of their first week 1-2-2 in non-conference match play.

Senior outside hitter Joscelyn Coleman led Essex with 42 kills and eight served aces.

Essex lost the first game against Fairfax and Rock Port and came back to win the second in both of the team’s ties.

Hosting a triangular with Bedford and Riverside (Oakland), Thursday, the Trojanettes won their first game against Bedford before losing the second and third.

“(Samantha Weed) started serving for Bedford in the third game and aced us five times,” Essex Head Coach Denny Perry said. “We got behind 9-2 right from the start, which in a 15-point game, is hard to come back from.”

The Trojanettes rebounded in their final game defeating Riverside 2-1, led by Coleman’s six kills and Tara Maher’s 13 of 14 serving.

Essex starts conference play in two home matches against Fremont-Mills and Hamburg this week.

VILLISCA – The Blue Jays had a rough start, losing in a dual to Corning, 3-0.

The Red Raiders came out firing 23 served aces, led by junior setter Lyndsay Barton who had eight.

Courtney Auxier led the Blue Jays with four kills, complimented Jill Vanderhoof and Sheri Schaaf’s perfect serving percentage.

Saturday, the Blue Jays competed in the Clarinda Tournament where they dropped their first games to Clarinda (2-1), Treynor (2-0) and Corner Conference rival Farragut (2-0).

Serving 46 for 49 with 10 aces pushed Villisca past the Griswold Tigers 2-0 in the fourth game of the tourney before losing to Clarinda, 2-0, in their finale.

The Blue Jays start their conference play against South Page and travel to East Mills this week.