By DELBERT PETERS

Staff writer

Goessel volleyball team took care of business Saturday winning five matches en route to the championship of the Tescott Invitational Tournament. It appeared that two Heart of America teams were the strongest teams at this tournament of eight schools. Goessel rose to the top winning first place.

In pool play, Goessel found little resistance with Tescott as the Bluebirds won 25-8, 25-9. Goessel defeated Bennington 25-11, 25-14 in a dominating performance. 

Against Ell-Saline, the path was a little rougher, but the Bluebirds prevailed 25-17, 25-23. In the semifinal match, Goessel defeated Osborne 25-16, 25-8.

Ell-Saline surfaced as the opponent in the championship match and the Bluebirds won for the third time this season 25-22, 25-9.

Karina Harvey led in digs with 23.  Karis Janzen led the team with 37 kills, followed by Aspen Frey with 25 and Kendra Flaming with 21.  Jessica Goertzen led the team with 12 aces served and 72 assists as the setter.

Remington and Inman defeated the Bluebirds in Heart of America League games Sept. 15.

Behind the serving of Paige Booten, Goessel got off to a 9-2 lead in game one with Remington. The Bluebirds held on to win 25-20.

In the second set, the game was evenly played with Goessel trailing, 9-10. At this point, the Bluebirds began to make mistakes and the Broncos took advantage, building a six-point lead and eventually winning 25-17. 

In the third set with Remington, the Broncos built an early lead 5-2 as the Bluebirds had trouble returning the serve. Goessel again was plagued with hitting long spikes or into the net and Remington jumped out to a 17-9 lead. The Bluebirds outscored the Broncos, 7-1, behind the serving of Kendra Flaming. Aspen Frey, Karis Janzen, and setter Jessica Goertzen got balls to drop and the Bluebirds got as close as 21-22. However, as the match neared the end, Goessel mistakes allowed Remington to win, 25-21.

Inman had defeated Remington earlier in the evening and although Inman grabbed early leads in the Goessel game, the score was still tied at 7-7. Goessel seemed to lose confidence as they again experienced an unusual number of mistakes.

Inman won the first set 25-16. The teams looked even in the second game. The score was tied, 8-8 and 16-16. The Teutons got ahead, 19-16, but the Bluebirds stayed close and forced Inman to call a time-out with Goessel trailing, 23-22. Inman won the next two points to win the match, 25-22.

Goessel will travel to Ell-Saline for league matches against the home team and to Moundridge on Tuesday. 

The Bluebirds will be at a tournament at Olpe on Saturday. 

Goessel’s record now stands at 3-2 in league play and 13-5 overall.