Finishing sets, matches a focus for Wolverine girls

Getting over the hump to win sets and matches isn’t a far-fetched goal for Nodaway Valley volleyball, which looks for its second win of the season going into the third full week of the season.

The Wolverines played Thursday, Sept. 1 at Southeast Warren, falling to the Warhawks on set scores of 25-20, 25-20 and 25-16.

Junior setter Emma Lundy had 15 assists to orchestrate the offense, which got a team-high nine kills from junior Lindsey Davis, three from junior Genevieve Livingston and two each from senior Shyan Castillo and junior Bella Hogan.

Davis scored five aces, Livingston two and Lundy and Hogan one each. The team served at a 73.2% clip and also had 18 hitting errors.

Leading the team in digs was Lundy with nine. Long and Livingston had eight each, Makinley Edwards six and Castillo, Liv Laughery and Hogan one each. Davis, Lundy and Livingston had two blocks each.

“Our struggle right now is finishing the games,” NV head coach McKynli Newbury said. “We just need to find a way to push through and get some wins. We’ve had a lot of close games the last couple of weeks.”

Last Tuesday, the Wolverines fell to Griswold on set scores of 25-21 and 25-12, and to AHSTW on set scores of 25-19, 25-19, in a non-conference triangular at Griswold.

Against the host Tigers, NV had five kills from Davis, three from Livingston and one from sophomore Bailey Carstens. Lundy had seven assists. Long and Livingston each had one ace. Lundy had seven digs. Laughery had five, Long and Davis four each, Livingston three and Castillo and Edwards one each.

Livingston and Hogan each had five kills against the Lady Vikes. Davis had three, Carstens two and Lundy one. Lundy, Livingston and Hogan had four assists, Castillo and Carstens had two. Long had 14 digs and Livingston 10, Davis seven, Castillo two and Lundy and Edwards one. Carstens and Edwards recorded two aces.

“The girls are really self-starting and are uplifting for each other. If something doesn’t go right on the court they’re really good about brushing it off and they keep going,” Newbury said. “We try to stay aggressive at all times on offense. I’ve told the girls that when we get nervous we need to not just push, we need to be aggressive with it because that’s how we’re going to get our points. We’ve had a few hit into the net, but I think it’s just them getting their confidence hitting in those tough situations.”