The Boiler Girls volleyball team notched their first conference win of the season Tuesday night, defeating Princeton in two sets (25-21, 25-19).
“We had a consistent night on defense,” said Kewanee Coach Brea Cinnamon. “We made some adjustments to our defensive positioning prior to the game and the back row did a nice job playing the cross court attacks from Princeton’s outside hitters,” she added.
Leading in that defensive effort was senior Jillian Bennison, who had 9 digs in the match. Fellow seniors Emma Ellenberger and Avery Yepsen each added 5. Sophomore back row specialist Taylor VanWinkle recorded 5 digs and freshman Macee Pickering had 4.
Coach Cinnamon was also pleased with her team’s defense at the net: “Our front row was strong and we were able to keep the sets moving to keep forcing their blockers to make adjustments.” Junior Aaliyah Duarte had 2 blocks and Ellenberger had 1.
On offense, Ellenberger had 8 kills, Yepsen and junior Tejhiana Amos each had 3 and Duarte had 1. Yepsen and Pickering dished out 8 and 4 assists, respectively.
“We were also able to use our serving as part of our offense with 8 aces in the match,” added Coach Cinnamon. Serving 4 of those aces was Pickering. Yepsen added 2, while Bennison and VanWinkle each had 1.
VanWinkle reeled off 11 service points, Pickering had 8, Bennison 5, Yepsen 3, Ellenberger 2, and Duarte 1.
The Boiler Girls move to 5-5 overall and 1-1 in conference. Princeton is now 8-6 and 1-1.
The KHS sophs also defeated Princeton in two sets, (25-19, 25-18). The freshmen squad lost a hard-fought, three-set match (22-25, 25-20, 24-26).
The Boiler Girls’ next match is at home against Bureau Valley. The freshman and sophomore matches start at 5 pm and the varsity match gets underway at 6 pm in H.F. Brockman Gym.
