WAGNER VOLLEYBALL GOES 3-1 AT EARLY BIRD TOURNAMENT
Wagner Volleyball Goes 3-1 at Early Bird Tournament
By Coach Amy Tyler
The Wagner Red Raiders went 3-1 at the Parkston Tournament to take home second place. Wagner opened the day against region rival McCook Central/Montrose and after a slow start, the Red Raiders worked their way back from a 14-21 deficit to take set one, 26-24. Momentum switched sides, and Wagner lost the second set 17-25, but were able to rebound in the third, 27-25 to take the match. Defending Class B champions, Northwestern took two straight sets from Wagner, 23-25, 15-25. Remaining undefeated the rest of the afternoon, Wagner beat Parkston 2-0 (25-21, 25-21), and Arlington 2-0 (25-22, 25-20). There was some great play from the girls, and we saw some areas that we will be focusing on as we move forward.
Senior, outside hitter, Faith Tyler led the Red Raiders in three categories, kills (37), blocks (7), and digs (47). Fellow senior libero, Kirstyn Roth was next defensively, scrapping for 40 digs in the back-court. Abby Brunsing ended the day with 37 digs and 30 kills, while Kayli Kocer put down 12 kills of her own. Rounding out the kills category was Maesa Dvorak with 11, and Paige Petry and Lizzie Tyler tallied 5 apiece. Lizzie Tyler dished out 45 assists, scrapped for 27 digs, and served 23 points, including 8 aces. Dvorak’s serving totals matched Tyler’s stats, 23 points, 8 aces. Faith Tyler scored 21 points behind the service line, while Emilea Cimpl
delivered 34 assists to her hitters and picked up 16 digs.
A very young JV squad faced a highly competitive field of opponents. They lost their mathes 0-2, but they improved some of the aspects of the game throughout the day. Leading the JV was eighth grader, Avari Bruguier who ended the day with 13 kills and 10 digs. Madi Knebel threw down 8 kills, picked up 12 digs, and served 2 aces. Fellow seventh grader, Kya Kjeldgaard, rallied for 6 kills, and 2 blocks, while Shona Kocer had 4 kills, and 3 blocks. Libero, Olivia Breen scrambled for 31 digs in the backrow. Setter, Macy Koupal totaled 11 digs, and 25 assists.