Wildcats are victorious
Varsity volleyball comes out with a win in first home game
Photo courtesy of Jetta Hoffner
Millard West fought hard to keep their lead throughout the match. Although this got more tough as the game went on, they still managed to smoke Omaha Northwest in the third set. “Into the last set of the game my mentality was just not to make any mistakes and play as a team,” sophomore Lauren Jones said. “I think that our biggest challenge moving forward will be playing more of the highly competitive teams. We haven’t had too much competition starting this season off, but I know once we start playing competitive teams we will have to dial in and play our game and not make silly mistakes.”
September 10, 2021
On Tuesday, Aug. 31, the Millard West Varsity Volleyball team took on Omaha Northwest. The game was quick and only lasted three sets, with the Wildcats sweeping every match.
The first set started with the Wildcats scoring the first point and gaining some momentum. The Wildcats held the lead throughout the entire set and managed to gain a 15 point lead at 20-5. The set was very short and didn’t look hopeful for the Huskies near the end. As the Wildcats scored their 25th point, Omaha Northwest was at 10.
“We kept a strong lead by staying calm and focusing on our side of the net,” senior Eluria Ahl said. “We have really good chemistry even with all of the newcomers, and we trust each other along with communicating really well.”
The second set began with Millard West scoring numerous times once again and gaining a confidence boost. Although the Wildcats scored first, the Huskies were not ready to give up, and took the lead back with a score of 7-3 midway through the set. Millard West needed to make a change, and after bringing some players off the bench they were able to score several consecutive points to gain a 19-12 lead. The second set ended with a score of 25-16 Wildcats, giving them a 2-0 lead.
“During the second set, personally I tried to bring a lot of energy onto the court and make the game fun,” sophomore Lauren Jones said. “Sometimes people forget that volleyball is meant to be a fun game, so bringing energy onto the court can really help the game.”
For the third straight set Millard West was able to put up points first and leave the Huskies in the dust. Although the Wildcats constantly held the lead over Omaha Northwest, the Huskies still put up a good fight. About 75% through the set Omaha Northwest started to show promise, but that was taken away when the Wildcats defeated them 25-10.
“We approach each set and each point with a next point mentality,” head coach Joe Wessel said. “We don’t focus on the negatives, we move on from our mistakes and continue to do what makes us productive and successful. Class A is wide open this year with so many quality teams. We will need to be on our A game each time we step on the floor.”
Some other important highlights of the match were Jones, junior Alanna Bankston and senior Sadie Millard getting nine, seven and six kills respectively. On top of this, Millard had the highest kill percentage on the team at 85.7. Not far behind came senior Maddison Mactaggert with an 80 percent kill rate.
The Wildcats played well Tuesday night, but will have to continue that throughout the rest of their season. Currently they are 10-1, and will have to keep the momentum up to make state.
