By DELBERT PETERS

Sports writer

Goessel High School girls’ volleyball team entered sub-state in a No. 2 seed. The team advanced through quarterfinals with a win over Peabody and then defeated Canton-Galva in semifinals to earn a spot in finals against the Lebo Wolves.

Goessel earned an early 4-1 lead against Peabody in game one, but the Warriors kept the game within reach with the Bluebirds leading, 18-14. Goessel scored the last five points in a row to win game one, 25-15.  

The Bluebirds took advantage of Peabody errors in game two and won the match with a 25-13 score.

Canton-Galva upset Olpe in their first match and the Goessel faithful knew that the Bluebirds would have to bring their A game to defeat the Eagles. The Bluebirds jumped out to a 6-3 lead, but still only led by three, when the score was 16-13. Aspen Frey got a kill, Paige Booten served an ace, and Frey hit a soft spike that hit the floor and suddenly the Bluebirds had a comfortable 20-13 lead. 

Kendra Flaming got a tip to fall, Jessica Goertzen converted a long pass into a kill, and the Bluebirds won game one, 25-15.

Goessel fell behind in game two when a Bluebird player was called for being in the net, and two Eagle serves hit the floor in front of Goessel players giving Canton-Galva the lead, 12-9. 

After a Goessel timeout, Flaming scored on a tip, Karina Harvey stretched for several digs, Frey blocked a hit, and Flaming served an ace, forcing the Eagle coach to call a timeout with the score 13-13. 

Booten served aggressively and after some long rallies, the Bluebirds scored six straight points to lead, 20-14. Goessel finished the win, 25-18.

Lebo, a 34-4 team, met Goessel in the finals. The score in the first game was tied at 6-6 but Goessel made some hitting errors and with Lebo leading, 10-6, the Bluebirds called timeout. Lebo hitters got hot and the Bluebirds trailed 8-16. 

Karis Janzen got a block down and a kill to help the Bluebird cause, but Lebo won the game, 25-18.

The Goessel team could have been tense, but you could not tell from the stands. A Janzen block and kill got the Bluebirds off to a lead. Frey and Booten got kills and Jennifer Van Horn scored on a tip. Goessel led, 13-5. The lead was short-lived as Lebo came back and snatched the lead 17-16.

Frey hit a winner cross-court and then another down the line. Goertzen tipped one, giving the Bluebirds a 20-17 lead. 

Again the Wolves came back and grabbed a 22-20 lead. Frey and Van Horn each had a kill, Flaming hit a winner down the line, and the Bluebirds won the game, 25-23, on a Frey back row spike.

In the deciding third game, Lebo took the lead, 11-7. Two kills by Janzen, one by Booten, and Harvey keeping balls from hitting the floor and Goertzen serving an ace, and suddenly Goessel had tied the game, 13-13. 

Two aces by the Wolves and a couple of errors by the Bluebirds gave Lebo a 20-14 lead. 

Goessel tried to cut into the deficit with several rallies. With their backs to the wall and Lebo in the lead, 24-18, Goessel made their last attack scoring three straight points. Lebo prevailed and won the final match, 25-21.  The four GHS seniors, Karina Harvey, Aspen Frey, Karis Janzen, and Jessica Goertzen, fought valiantly in their last match in a Bluebird uniform. 

The Bluebirds ended the season with a record of 27-10.