ROSALIA – There’s an old axiom, “You don’t ever lose. You either win, or you learn.”
That said, the Altoona-Midway High School volleyball team learned a lot on Saturday.
The Lady Jets put up a fight most of the day, but eventually dropped all three of their matches here in the always-tough Flinthills Tournament.
Altoona-Midway opened the day falling to Remington 25-7, 25-17. The Jets were then defeated by West Elk 25-11, 25-8; and finished off the day dropping a 25-15, 25-9 decision to Cedar Vale/Dexter.
“This has always been a difficult tournament for us, and this year was no different,” said AMHS head coach Michelle Stackhouse. “We were put in a pool with teams we had never played before, so we weren’t familiar with some of their tendencies, but the girls played hard.
“We did have a few times where we let up a little, so we still need to work on that, but for the most part the girls stayed in there and played their game,” Stackhouse added. “I was especially proud of them for playing hard in the third match against Cedar Vale/Dexter.”
AMHS senior Emmalynn Pupanek turned in her usual fine floor game, finishing with seven kills and 12 blocks along with 10 good serves and 55 successful passes.
Freshman sensation Sandra Morales recorded 10 kills on the day, as well as two blocks, 13 serves, 48 passes and 19 sets.
Other notable performances for the Lady Jets were turned in by senior Autumn Raymond (4 serves, 46 passes, 33 sets) and junior Chantal Morales (13 serves, 31 passes).
“This was definitely a learning experience for us,” Stackhouse noted. “We took a lot from today’s matches and look forward to coming back strong when we play at home this week.”
AMHS (2-9) will try to bounce back and get back in the win column as they have a pair of home dates this week. The Jets will host Chetopa and Northeast in a triangular on Tuesday, Sept. 17, and will then host Tyro Christian School and Liberty Homeschool Alliance in the A-M Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 21. First serve at Milo Peterson Gymnasium will be at 5 p.m. Tuesday and at 9 a.m. Saturday.
