STATE CENTER — The West Marshall volleyball team has already had tough times this season against bigger school rivals.
The Trojans said that prepared them for battle in the Heart of Iowa Conference, and they came out strong Monday night defeating PCM in the conference opener at West Marshall High School.
West Marshall won 25-23, 25-19, 25-16, marking the team’s first win of the season and improving to 1-8 overall.
“We needed this,” West Marshall High School senior Lily Zand said, “It’s been a tough start to the season, but I think tonight’s game proved that it doesn’t really matter how well we do, we’re still a good team.”
Zand led the Trojan attack with 11 kills, Avery Evertsen had nine kills and Amelia Ranson had four kills. Zand added nine assists and Natalie Nichols had a team-high 19 assists. Rachel Randall had 17 digs and Reese Jensen had 14 digs and three ace serves.
Both teams traded the lead throughout the first set, with PCM holding an edge at 23-21, but West Marshall scored the final four points, including a kill by Zahndo and consecutive blocks by Shelby Johnston and Avery Evertsen, to win the set.
Eversen recorded four blocks for the Trojans on Monday.
“I think we have six to eight good hitters that can swing hard and hit the ball no matter who’s out there,” West Marshall head coach Buffy Hornek said, “and as far as our blocking goes, I would challenge them to find a better blocker than us. When we’re on a roll, we’re really on a roll.”
West Marshall also jumped out to an early 14-0 lead in the second set and then a 16-2 run as Jensen kept PCM on its toes.
The Trojans missed serve just twice on Monday.
“That was our weakness in the early games,” Hornek said. “Serving was really the key tonight. Add in some good passing and serve receiving and we couldn’t let ourselves miss out on a win tonight.”
The Mustangs kept things interesting in the second set, battling back with a long 11-0 run that included three aces from PCM’s Tori Lindsay to pull within 22-18 of the Trojans.
“We just had to pass the ball,” Zahn-Doe said. “You don’t have to clean it up all the time, just pass the ball. We dug ourselves a hole for a little while.”
West Marshall got a much-needed sideout and Zandt’s two kills gave the home team the final two points they needed.
That eased the pressure for the Trojans in the third set, as they led 12-6 early and 8-1 late to make the match decisive.
“I was nervous at the start,” Zand said, “but once I got that first kill and heard the students behind me, everyone was so positive and energetic and it felt great.”
Six of West Marshall’s eight losses to start the season have come to Class 4A schools.
“These matches have taught me that even if you lose, you shouldn’t give up,” Zand said. “It’s okay if you fail, it’s still part of the score. You can still get a kill, you can still score.”
The Trojans are backed by an experienced roster with 13 seniors and four underclassmen on the varsity team.
“It’s a great combination of leadership,” Hornek said, “We have a great group on the bench that’s cheering us on and supporting us, and we have girls playing all over the place. Great girls. Watching them grow over the last four years and I’m really proud of how their leadership has evolved.”
Zandt said the Trojans hope to be competing for a conference title by the end of the year. West Marshall was fourth last year, but last year’s top two, Nevada and Roland Story, are likely to be the teams to beat in the HOIAC again this year.
“We took that step tonight,” Zahn-Doe said, “and we want to build good relationships, build a good team and stay positive. Even if we lose, we can always stay positive.”
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