Aggressive serving, defense lead to wins for Bluebirds
Staff writer
Goessel hosted the Bluebird Invitational Tournament on Saturday. They ended in third place, winning their pool, but losing to Halstead in the semi-final match. All 12 players who suited up saw action in the tournament.
Goessel began the day against Canton-Galva. The Bluebirds could not pull away from the Eagles and the game remained tied 20-20.
With Madison Smith serving, the Bluebirds connected on hits from Ciera Nolte and Stephany Meyer to clinch the set 25-21.
The second set went into overtime. Goessel held a 21-15 lead, but Canton-Galva tied the score at 22-22, and grabbed a 24-22 lead. Goessel fought back and snatched the win from the Eagle‘s grasp, winning 28-26.
Aggressive Bluebird serving allowed them to jump ahead of Central Christian 9-1, but the Cougars got as close as 22-18 before the Bluebirds could close, 25-20.
Savanna Wuest took control of the second set from the serving line and hitting from the front row. With her serving, the Bluebirds jumped out to a 13-7 lead and coasted to a 25-14 win.
Wichita Independent was no match for the defensive play from Audessi Unruh, Smith and Kaleigh Guhr in the back row. Goessel got ahead 11-4 and won the first set 25-13.
Bethany Herrel and Elizabeth Aldefer added defense along the front row and Goessel won the second set 25-12.
The match against Halstead proved to be the toughest competition for the Bluebirds.
Goessel led 8-3, but the Dragons tied at 12. The game was still tied at 21 when Halstead scored four consecutive points to win 25-21.
In the second set, the Bluebirds strained to stay even with the Dragons. The game was tied at 7, but Halstead connected on several hits to take a commanding 18-11 lead.
Goessel could not get close again, with the game ending in a 25-17 Goessel loss.
In the last match, the Bluebirds played Canton-Galva for the second time. The Eagles took the early lead of 11-10. Goessel depended on excellent serving to gradually win 25-18.
In the closing set, the game stayed close to the end. Rachael Zogleman added to the success of the front line as the Bluebirds grabbed a lead 18-17. Goessel led 24-22 and the final point came on a Herrel block.
The Bluebirds won 25-22.
Goessel played at home Tuesday against Herington and Little River. Herington hung on to defeat the Bluebirds 25-18 in set one, taking advantage of Goessel errors.
Goessel led for a short time in the second set, but the Railers played well enough to win 25-17.
Goessel corrected several mistakes, and jumped out to a commanding lead against Little River, and won 25-14 in the first set.
The Redskins played even with the Bluebirds in the second set and Goessel gathered their first Wheat State League win of the season by beating the Redskins 25-23 in the second set.