By DELBERT PETERS

Staff writer

The Goessel Bluebirds volleyball team secured another championship as they won their fourth tournament of the season Saturday.

Goessel picked up five wins as they defeated the top six teams in the Wheat State League tournament at Centre.

Goessel faced Herington in the first match and jumped out to a 7-0 lead. The Railers were unable to gain any traction as the Bluebirds zipped to a 25-10 win. In the second set, Herington kept close early, but theBluebirds gathered 6 consecutive points to jump out to a commanding 12-5 lead. With Leah Booton serving, Eden Hiebert hit several winners. Booton dropped in two aces and Brittney Hiebert smashed two winners as the Bluebirds again surged. Savanna Wuest pushed a ball to an empty spot on the back row and Brittany Hiebert served an ace for a 25-8 win.

Canton-Galva proved to be a worthy opponent. Goessel used a stretch of 9 consecutive points to win the first set 25-15. In the second set, Canton-Galva led 11-9 before the Bluebirds began a barrage of points to retake the lead, winning 25-16.

Goessel jumped out ahead of Solomon 8-1 in their first set and coasted to a 25-8 win. The Gorillas regrouped and took advantage of poor choices from the Bluebirds as they took an 11-7 lead in the second. Several times the Bluebirds chose to watch serves and hard hits land just inside the back line as Solomon continued to lead 19-14. The Gorillas won the second set 25-20. In the third set, Goessel came back to life, posting a 13-4 lead on the way to a 25-10 victory.

The theme by the fourth match of the day: Stay hydrated. Both Goessel and Rural Vista seemed exhausted in the unair conditioned gym at Centre. Goessel took an 11-4 lead before allowing the Heat to get as close as 23-17. After Coach Crysta Guhr called her first time-out of the day, Goessel finished the first set with a 25-18 win. Several serving errors for the Bluebirds and tired play forced Goessel to take a time-out again trailing 11-10 in the second set. Kara Burkholder was in to serve and Goessel began to assert themselves. Eden Hiebert hit a winner and Olivia Duerksen capitalized on some short sets to jump out to a 19-14 lead. Goessel then sailed to a 25-16 win.

In the final match of the day for the Bluebirds, Goessel dominated from start to finish as the Bluebirds won 25-3, 25-5.

Goessel is 35-1 heading into substate play Saturday at Peabody.