A battle of the LTC volleyball undefeated took place Monday night at Wethersfield High School. The Lady Geese won an exciting 26-24 game one duel and a more decisive second game 25-11 to remain unbeaten in conference play at 7-0.
Monmouth United slides to 4-1 in the Lincoln Trail Conference and 10-4 on the season. As a result of Monday night’s win, Wethersfield (16-2-1) and Annawan (16-3, 5-0) are the only two teams that remain undefeated in the LTC.
The Lady Geese and the Bravettes will do battle in Annawan on Oct. 11.
Those hoping to see high school volleyball played at its finest Monday night weren’t disappointed. In the first game, United jumped out to a 6-1 lead after two kills by power hitter, Callie Mason, and the strong serving of Reese Bertelsen.
During that stretch, Wethersfield’s back row absorbed several hard hits and WHS libero Cora Hodge had a big dig up to the front row to finally halt United’s momentum.
The Lady Geese then went on a run of their own. Junior Kennady Anderson served two aces and a block by the tandem of Emersyn Nelson Camryn Anderson knotted the score at six.
A third ace by Anderson and kills by Nelson and Kendall Vincent extended WHS’s lead, 11-6. Kennady Anderson held serve for eight consecutive points.
After the longest rally of the match, the front row duo of Lajaya Angel and Raqi Young had a big block for the point and WHS side out at 16-12. Kills by Angel and Kennady Anderson gave the Geese a 19-17 advantage.
A kill and a block by Emersyn Nelson gave WHS the 21-19 lead. Back to back kills by Callie Mason and a tip by Emma Austin helped to close the gap for United at 23-22.
Vincent countered with a kill for WHS, but Mason haåd a block for the Red Storm to tie the game at 24. United failed to return a Kendall Vincent serve and WHS won the 26-24 nailbiter.
In game two, behind the serving of Raqi Young and strong blocking of Emersyn Nelson and Camryn Anderson, the Lady Geese shot out to an 8-0 lead. Consecutive hitting errors by United added to the WHS lead and prompted a Red Storm timeout at 14-4.
Blocks by Angel and Vincent and six straight service points by Lindstrom (starting at 11-4), the WHS lead ballooned to 17-4.
An ace by Vincent and back to back kills Kennady Anderson put the Geese in the driver’s seat at 22-6. Emersyn Nelson unleashed the final kill of the match giving Wethersfield the 25-11 win.
WHS’s back row worked hard to counter the hitting of Mason and Bertelsen. Cora Hodge and Kennady Anderson led the effort with 14 digs each. Vincent and Lindstrom added 12 and 8, respectively.
Vincent had five kills and Emersyn Nelson and Kennady Anderson each contributed four. Raqi Young had 11 assists and six digs on the night. Emersyn Nelson led the defensive effort at the net with five blocks. Angel and Camryn Anderson had three blocks each.
The Lady Geese won the the sophomore contest as well, 25-20, 25-19. The freshmen split their match 25-22, 11-25. A third game wasn’t played due to time constraints.
