The Stephen-Argyle Storm Volleyball team had to go through a rollercoaster of emotions but were able to get the job done, barely hanging on in five sets (18-25, 25-21, 18-25, 25-23, 19-17) at Warren-Alvarado-Oslo High School.
FIRST SET
The first set began with a Markelle Peterson kill. WAO scored the first three points, then kept the lead at 3 until the Storm were able to tie it at 4. After thet, WAO scored the next 3 points, setting up a set full of runs from each side. at 8-6, the Storm scored the next 5 points to take an 11-8 lead. But, as we have seen before, WAO then responded, scoring the next 4 points to take a 12-11 lead. WAO then responded to tie the set at 13. After WAO gor the lead back to 3, the lead stayed at 3 until a Storm error made it 19-14. The Ponies did not stop there, and after it was tied at 13, WAO went on a 10-1 run to make it 23-14. The Storm then scored the next 5 points, looking to get back into the set, but a Reegan Mortimer kill ended their hopes at 25-18. granting the first set to the Ponies.
SECOND SET
At the start of the second set, the teams traded points all the way up until it was 4-2 Storm Then, the lead stayed at 2 until a terrific Emily Marquis kill made it 9-5 Storm. The Storm then built the lead up to 11-6, 12-7 and then an Isabelle Westman kill made it 14-7 Storm. Stephen Argyle did a great job of keeping the lead at 7, all the way up to 19-12, and then 21-14. A Kenley Marquis ace cut the lead to 6 very briefly, a Storm net violation cut the lead then down to 5, and then all of a sudden the lead was 23-20. WAO was able to get the score to 24-21, but some confusion by the Ponies allowed the ball to fall harmlessly to the ground, giving the Storm a 25-21 win, evening the match at one set apiece.
THIRD SET
Kicking off the third set was a point for the Ponies. The teams then continued to alternate points like the second set, up until two straight Storm mishits made it 5-3 Ponies. The Storm were able to tie it at 6, but continued to make mistakes as the Ponies took an 8-6 lead. The Storm were able to quickly tie it at 8, and the lead stayed tied until a Chandler Stroble ace made it 11-9. Stroble then aced again to make it 13-9 Ponies. The lead then hovered around 4 until another ball into the net by the Storm made it 17-11 in favor of WAO. The lead then hovered around 7 until yet another mishit made it 22-13 WAO. They were then able to finish the job, as an Olivia Winge setter dump wins the set for WAO 25-18, giving them a 2-1 set advantage.
FOURTH SET
The fourth set looked like the the first set all over again with the Ponies off to a great start, scoring the first 3 points. But then, the Storm scored 6 of the next 7 to take a 6-4 lead. The lead then hovered around 2 until a Lola Linder kill cut the lead to 1 at 9-8. But, Emily Marquis and Nora Osowski took over, recording two aces and a block to make it 13-8 in the Storm’s favor. The lead then stayed at 5 until another Linder kill made it 15-12. WAO was able to cut the lead to 1, but an Isabelle Westman kill made it 17-14 Storm. An Annika Adoplhson ace made it 19-15, and the lead stayes at 4 until WAO was able to cut the lead all the way down to 24-23, and finally a ball into the net ended the fourth set hopes for WAO, as the Storm tookmit 25-23, forcing a fifth set.
FIFTH SET
At the start of the fifth set, the Ponies took advantage of 2 Storm errors and a Macey Boe block to start out 3-0. The Storm were able to cut the lead down to 4-2, and then 5-4, followed by a Nora Osowski kill. At 7-5 Ponies, A Jocelyn Groven ace tied it at 7, and a serve receive error gave the Storm the lead. Another ace made it 9-7, and the Storm would not stop there, and tremendous serving from Groven made it 12-7. However, WAO would not back down, and tremendous net pressure was able to get the score tied at 14-14. The score stayed at 15, 16, and 17 before two straight Ponies errors made it 19-17, giving Stephen-Argyle the win in 5 sets.
Stephen-Argyle now improves to 5-10 on the year, while WAO still seeks their first win, dropping to 0-17. Stephen-Argyle coach Kayla Smith spoke lots of praise for her team after an absolutely incredible 5-set win. “We really wanted that W…we needed some confidence going into the next games coming up.” Smith begged for consistency from her team tonight, and she said that she most definitely got that. “I wanted us to focus on getting our passes up and our sets there, and then having our hitters continue to swing, and that is exactly what they did.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Warren-Alvarado-Oslo | 25 | 21 | 25 | 23 | 17 |
| Stephen-Argyle | 18 | 25 | 18 | 25 | 19 |
For Stephen-Argyle
Kills – Isabelle Westman 11
Blocks – Nora Osowski 3, Emily Marquis 2
Digs – Nora Osowski 22, Jocelyn Groven 20
Assists – Isabelle Westman 13
Aces –Jocelyn Groven 2, Annika Adolphson 1
For Warren-Alvarado-Oslo
Kills- Reegan Mortimer 18
Blocks – Macey Boe, Lola Linder 1
Digs – Kenley Marquis 29
Assists – Chandler Stroble 24
Aces –Chandler Stroble, Kenley Marquis 3
