Middle School Volleyball starts with wins

POMEROY––The Pirate volleyball team got off to a strong start to the season, winning their first three matches, then defeating Asotin and Tekoa-Rosalia the following week.

The Pirates opened at home versus Oakesdale. Coach Adam Van Vogt was pleased with how the team remembered its rotations and came out confident and disciplined in the first match. Oakesdale is a strong team but Pomeroy was more consistent and aggressive and won 25-13, 25-22.

The next match was at Tekoa and the Pirates weathered early strong play in the first game to pull away, win, and control the rest of the match. The team served 91%, led by Kylee Wegrzyn's 40 of 40 and 15 aces. She made plays when T-R was able to return serves.

In the third match, Pomeroy defeated a talented Colfax team behind another strong serving match (87% for the team) and scrappy defense. The first set was back-and-forth but eventually Pomeroy pulled away.

In set two, Colfax jumped out to a lead before we rallied to win late in the set.

"On match point, the teams pulled off one of the best junior high plays I've ever seen," Van Vogt said. "A ball went into the net and Destinee Humphries dove for the ball on second contact. Hollie Van Vogt then dove, too, and j-hooked the ball back over the net to win the match. I love how our girls didn't give up on the play.

"We still have to tighten some of things up and continue to gain consistency with serving, passing, and transition but I'm really happy with how we are playing right now," Van Vogt said. "These girls play well as a group, are having fun, work hard and fight in games.

"We've started the year off by playing three good teams and found a way to win all three," he said. "We have a talented group of young ladies who are off to a great start and we look to keep it up with two more matches this week."

Against Asotin, the Pomeroy team, scrapping well and going a third set. "We did a good job of gathering ourselves and jumping out to a 4-0 lead in game three and didn't look back," the coach said. "I especially want to shout out Kiara Marquez, who came in and made both of her serves in game 3 and gave us a big lift."

T/R also received our serve well and the Pirates were missing some players, so others had to step up.

"We served tough and did a good job of transitioning when they sent balls back over," Van Vogt said, leading to some extended runs on our side.

"We also scrapped well, with many of our girls making diving plays and keeping balls alive that brought the crowd to their feet," he said.

Pomeroy v Oakesdale: W 25-13, 25-22. Hollie Van Vogt: 14/15 serving with 5 aces, 5 assists, and 3 kills. Reagan Mckeirnan: 13/15 serving with 3 aces and 2 digs. Kylee Wegrzyn: 18/21 serving with 5 aces and 4 kills

Pomeroy v T-R: W 25-15, 25-11, 15-4. Reagan Mckeirnan: 9/10 serving with 3 aces and 2 digs. Kylee Wegrzyn: 40/40 serving with 15 aces and 3 kills. Tatum Jones: 7/7 serving with an ace, a kill, and a dig.

Pomeroy v Colfax: W 25-21, 25-18, 15-4. Hollie Van Vogt: 17/17 serving with 9 aces, 7 assists, 2 kills, and 2 digs. Kylee Wegrzyn: 18/19 serving with 8 aces and 5 kills. Destinee Humphries: 5 assists. Heather Hastings: 5/6 serving with 3 digs and an ace.

Pomeroy v T/R: W 25-14, 25-7, 15-8. Hollie Van Vogt: 17-19 serving with 10 aces, 7 assists, and 5 kills. Reagan Mckeirnan: 7/9 serving with 4 kills and 3 aces. Heather Hastings: 10/12 serving with 7 aces.

Pomeroy v Asotin: W 25-16, 17-25, 15-10. Hollie Van Vogt: 21/21 serving with 9 aces, 6 kills, and 6 assists. Kylee Wegrzyn: 6/6 serving and 6 kills. Destinee Humphries 4/6 serving and 5 assists. Tatum Jones: 3 kills and 3 digs. Destinee Humphries: 5 assists, 2 digs, and 2 aces.

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