MCPHERSON, Kan. – The McPherson Middle School 7th Grade Volleyball team concluded their season hosting the Wichita Suburban League Tournament, where they defeated Hutchinson 25-18, 25-20, they would then defeat Newton in three sets, 19-25, 25-13, 15-4. The Pups would fall to Salina South in the Championship 25-14, 24-26, 5-15.
Below are Coach Shelley Bohme’s thoughts:
We started the day off well with a lot of energy and good serving against Hutch. Kennedy Bonham was having a great day of volleyball then went down with an ankle injury at the very end of our first set. She’s one of our setters and is a big presence at the net, so that was tough. The rest of the girls adjusted and continued with solid serving, led by Jersey Alexander in Set 2 to get the win.
We were a little shaky to start off against Newton as we settled into a new rotation, but got some great energy from the crowd and played much better in Sets 2 and 3. Allison Randa and Ellie Herrera did an amazing job at the net, Krysten Fenstermaker and Allison both strung some serves together in Set 2, and Ellie had her best serving of the season, serving 12 in a row in the third set.
We played great in Set 1 against Salina South, with Jersey serving the ball well again. We had to play catch-up in Set 2, and Kennedy gave us a little spark off the bench when she was able to come back in and serve, but ultimately we made too many errors and dropped the set. We let balls drop, couldn’t get momentum, and our communication and teamwork were lacking. It was a tough way to end the season, but there were a lot of positives.
Allison and Krysten were thrown into new spots and positions and adjusted well. Amarie Lowery had some really good serves and did a phenomenal job of mixing up her hits, keeping them in play, and she hustled all over the floor on defense. Jersey put up some nice passes in addition to a solid night of serving. Karlie Cooper had some nice help passes and while she didn’t get as many swings as usual, she stepped in to set the ball more with Kennedy out and did a great job.
I am so proud of how much these girls improved this season, and can’t wait to watch them as they continue to grow!
