Positivity carrying NV/OM volleyball squad

The Nodaway Valley/OM volleyball squad finished last week with one win after a triangular Tuesday, Sept. 2 at Griswold and a quadrangular Thursday, Sept. 4 in Guthrie Center.

Head coach Allie Kiburz said the team’s number one goal is to improve each day, and she feels they’ve been accomplishing that thus far.

“The biggest thing I saw is that our girls fought the entire week. They were very resilient — there were times that it would get close and there were times that we’d have such long rallies with the other team, and the majority of the time, we’d win that point,” Kiburz said. “Even in the bigger scheme of things, the other team would go on runs, but there’s a lot of fight in this team. That was a very positive point I took from the week. It’s hard when you play this many games in the week. So far, they’ve been really good at pushing through that, motivating each other through and finding the positives in that.”

Senior hitter Kylie Nelson was a consistent hitter through last week for the Wolverines, averaging 1.8 kills per set played, while Emma Boswell, who averaged 1.7 per set, was right there with her. In the back row, players such as Allie Cornelison, who had 4.77 digs per set, helped pave the way for success.

“We had a lot of girls stand out this week. Kylie did phenomenal in the middle. Emma fought through some shoulder pain really well and at the end of the week had some pretty dominant hits,” Kiburz said. “Allie in the back row, she’s pretty solid, trying to find her voice in the back row. Mattie Thompson is always consistent setting and Izzy Eisbach was a great vocal leader for us this week. Taylor Laughery with her blocks as well and Addi Herr has also been very consistent. It’s exciting to see there’s so many girls who have so many different strengths.”

The Wolverines topped Griswold 25-17, 24-26, 15-6. Kylie Nelson had eight of the team’s 16 kills in the match. Herr was next with four. Thompson led the charge with 15 assists. Eisbach finished with two blocks, Thompson and senior Emma Boswell had four digs each and Eisbach scored two aces.

AHSTW topped the Wolverines 25-14, 25-22 behind a team-high six kills from Nelson and an attack led by 11 assists from Thompson. Nelson and Emma Boswell had a block apiece while junior libero Allie Cornelison made 14 digs. Herr and Nelson had two aces each.

At ACGC, West Central Valley topped the Wolverines 2-1 (21-25, 27-25, 15-8). Emma Boswell finished with 10 kills as Thompson set up the offense with 15 kills. Nelson had five blocks and Cornelison finished with 20 digs. Herr scored two aces.

The host Chargers beat NV/OM 22-25, 25-13, 15-8. In that match, the Wolverines were led by seven kills from emma Boswell and Thompson finished with 15 assists. Nelson and Eisbach made three solo blocks each while Thompson and Cornelison had seven digs apiece. From the service line, seniors Mallory Russell and Eisbach scored two aces each.

In a 2-0 loss to Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton (25-20, 25-11), the Wolverines were paced by five kills from Herr. Cornelison was digs leader with seven.

Two goals the Wolverines have are to serve receive better, adapting to what the opposing team gives them, and to finish in sets and matches. That will come as a team that is overall inexperienced in playing together as a unit gets even more playing time together, Kiburz said.

“We’ve played a lot of volleyball already and have grown so much chemistry-wise. We’re trying to figure out still who that person’s going to be. Part of that is playing together and knowing what each other is like,” Kiburz said. “As an outsider, it might look like it just comes together, but we also need to practice that mental toughness. We do pressure serving drills and speed receive drills where girls push themselves to the limit.”

Now 4-7 on the season, Nodaway Valley/OM was scheduled to host Wayne and Lenox Tuesday in a triangular, play in the Perry tournament Thursday and a tournament at Chariton Saturday.

“This week we’re really going to need some of our backup girls who come off the bench to step in too because everybody can only do so much before they get tired,” Kiburz said. “Getting everybody some minutes, everybody’s going to have to play a part. Being able to step back [to reflect on what we’re doing well] is good as well as staying positive. Having fun is no problem for these girls, which is great. It’s always a positive environment. That can help in games to believe in yourself and stay positive. We focus on growth, not the score, and make sure we aren’t taking a step back.”