BUFFALO – The Altoona-Midway High School volleyball squad got off to a quick start Saturday at their own invitational tournament, picking up a nice victory against Kickapoo Nation School to give them a modest two-match winning streak.
Unfortunately, the Lady Jets were unable to build on that momentum, dropping their final two matches – albeit both in close fashion – during the round-robin quadrangular event held at Milo Peterson Gymnasium.
As a result of the close setbacks, AMHS had to settle for third place in the four-team classic. Chanute Christian Academy fashioned a perfect 3-0 record on the day to claim the tournament championship. Liberty Homeschool Alliance went 2-1 to grab second place, while Kickapoo Nation Warriors went winless on the day and finished fourth.
“We started off the day with a lot of confidence, but we just couldn’t get over the hump in either of the final two matches, even though we gave good effort,” said Altoona-Midway coach Michelle Stackhouse. “Overall, we played well and had good communication. However, we had 25 missed serves for the day, and that hurt us in key moments.”
The Lady Jets opened the tournament in strong fashion, defeating the Kickapoo Nation School Warriors of Powhattan 25-4, 25-21. They then had a long three-match layover before taking on Chanute Christian Academy in what proved to be the match of the day.
CCA squeezed out a 25-20 win in the opening set, but Altoona-Midway bounced back with an impressive 25-10 win to even the match and force a deciding third set. However, the Chanute academy posted a 25-12 triumph and went on the claim the tournament title.
The Lady Jets battled Liberty Homeschool Alliance in the finale which decided second place, but came up short by a 25-17, 25-22 count.
“We played really well against CCA, taking them to three sets, but we couldn’t quite come away with the win,” Stackhouse said. “Our game against Liberty was also hard-fought, but after the tough loss earlier the girls were not mentally there for those games.”
Several Lady Jets turned in credible individual performances during the tournament.
Emmalynn Pupanek finished with 16 kills and three blocks to go along with 91 passes and 29 good serves, including 14 aces.
Sandra Morales polished off 27 serves, with 15 aces, and also piled up 14 kills, 68 passes, 46 sets and a block.
Autumn Raymond led the squad with a whopping 61 sets. She also had 11 serves, 89 passes, and four kills.
Chantal Morales finished the day with 25 quality serves, five aces, and 48 good passes.
Keyleigh Clines, a freshman, chipped in with 52 passes and 17 serves, three of them aces; while junior Eryn Tiger accounted for eight good serves, one ace, and 31 passes.
AMHS, now 4-12 on the season, faces a busy schedule this week as they hit the road for three different playing dates. The Lady Jets are slated to travel to Lyndon on Monday (Marais Des Cygnes Valley will be there as well), and Tuesday they open Three Rivers League play with a triangular at Oswego. AMHS will also play another TRL triangular on Thursday at Arma.
