By DELBERT PETERS

Staff writer

“We played the best ball of the season,” coach Crysta Guhr said after the Tescott Tournament on Saturday.

Goessel ended the day with two wins and three losses, but the volleyball team seemed to be improving.

In the first match against Tescott, the Bluebirds dominated both games winning 25-12 and 25-10.

Against Osborne, the first game was close at the midway point, 14-11. Makaila Schmidt scored four aces and the Bluebirds coasted to a win, 25-16.

Goessel won the second game with an early lead and finished the game, 25-15.

Against Ell-Saline, the Bluebirds could not hold on to an early 15-9 lead and felt the momentum change as the Cardinals tied the game at 19-19. Ell-Saline scored the last four points to take game one, 25-21.

Goessel again scratched out a 16-12 lead in the second game only to see Ell-Saline catch fire and finish the second game with a 25-21 win.

In bracket play, the Bluebirds exploded for an 11-2 lead against Sylvan-Lucas in game one and coasted to a 25-11 win. But the next game was a different story. Goessel held a 3-point lead for much of the game only to see the Mustangs take charge at the end for a Bluebird loss, 22-25. In the deciding third game, Goessel led 18-13 only to see Sylvan-Lucas finish with a flurry and another Bluebird loss, 22-25.

Goessel ended up in the consolation game facing Ell-Saline for the third time this season. Goessel led 18-14 but the Cardinals tied the game at 22. This time the Bluebirds finished with a 25-22 win on game one.

In the second game, the Bluebirds trailed most of the game, losing 19-25. In the final game to decide third and fourth place in the tournament, Goessel stayed with the Cardinals to an 8-8 tie but then Ell-Saline gradually extended a lead and won the final game, 25-18.

Jennifer Van Horn accumulated 32 kills and amassed 15 blocks. Makaila Schmidt served 21 aces and Aimee Flaming set up 58 assists. Kendra Flaming and Paige Booton each tallied 22 digs. Alex Hiebert also collected 15 blocks in the five matches.

League tournament

The Goessel volleyball team won two more Wheat State League games Sept. 14 with wins over Peabody-Burns and White City. Goessel struggled in the match with Peabody-Burns as the Warriors won the first game, 25-16.

Avoiding an early deficit in game two the Bluebirds expanded on a 16-14 lead to win by a score of 25-18.

In the deciding third game, Goessel seemed to take a commanding 21-13 lead, but Peabody-Burns found inspiration from a timeout and got as close as 24-22 before the Bluebirds finished the match, 25-22.

Against host team White City, the Bluebirds fell behind 16-19 but finished the first game winning nine consecutive points to win 25-19.

It was all Bluebirds in the second game as they began to play more smoothly and they won decisively, 25-12.

Flaming led the team with 20 assists in the five games. Van Horn accumulated no serving errors in 29 attempts and led the team with 12 kills. Schmidt served seven aces in the two matches and Booton led the team with nine digs.

Goessel now sports a record of 11-5 and played Tuesday at Solomon for another Wheat State League match.