LANCASTER 8/31– Coach Carla Hentrich and her Lancaster varsity volleyball team kicked off play in the Southwest Wisconsin Conference last Thursday night, where visiting Dodgeville escaped with a 3-1 victory over the Arrows.
After losing the first two sets by scores of 25-8 and 25-16, the Flying Arrows regrouped to take the third set by a score of 25-16. The Dodgers closed out the match with a convincing 25-4 victory in the fourth and final set.
“I felt like the girls did a nice job with staying aggressive and making plays happen when they got out of system,” said coach Hentrich. “We definitely struggle with serve receive, but Dodgeville is a very good team for finding those seams and changing up their serves.”
“We are putting up great blocks, we just have to stay disciplined and stay with the hitters,” Hentrich added. “We have a lot of talented girls this year and I am looking forward to them getting better and better as the season progresses.”
Leading Lancaster with six kills was Jessica Morgan, while Emma Jensen dished out a team-high seven assists, followed closely by Lily Weber with six.
Jensen and Asiah McDonald came away with a team-high 11 digs each, while Abby Esser and Cassie Nemitz each had 10. Ella Gruetzmacher had a team-high five blocks, followed by Sophia Gruetzmacher with three.
On the following Saturday, Lancaster competed at the Richland Center Invite, where they went 1-3 on the day.
In pool play the Arrows lost to Reedsburg and Hillsboro in two sets each, then in the bronze division lost to Platteville in two sets before closing out the day with a two-set sweep of Black Hawk.
Jessica Morgan put down a team-high 17 kills on the day to go along with a team-best five service aces, while Nicole Kelley had 10 kills and Megan Kreul and Ava Hermsen nine each.
Lily Weber distributed a team-high 34 assists, followed by Jensen with 33, while Abby Esser had a team-high 11 digs followed by Lauren Reukauf with five.
This Thursday night the Arrows will travel to Platteville, then will host their invite on Saturday with Black Hawk, Fennimore, Kickapoo, Potosi, River Ridge, Shullsburg and Viroqua.
