Goessel volleyball team defeats Ell-Saline in tournament play
Trying to play volleyball at 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning takes a lot of fortitude. Goessel's first game of the HOA Tournament was against Inman and the Bluebirds looked a bit fatigued.
Inman's scores came in bunches of three and four points on each possession in game one. The Bluebirds were defeated 25-9. In the second game the Lady Teutons went from a 4-4 tie to rally for nine straight points and the Bluebirds never threatened the rest of the game. The second game ended 25-12.
Two hours later the Bluebirds faced their rivals from Little River. Goessel played much better and led 9-8. The Redskins were able to score seven points in a row to make the score 11-18, but Goessel battled back with five points of their own using the serving of Allison Banman and the hitting of Kory Hiebert, getting as close as 16-18. Little River knocked down six straight points giving them match point with a score of 16-24. Again, Goessel battled back with consistent serving from senior Felicia Goertzen and the Bluebirds got to 19 before the Redskins were able to score the final point.
With both teams playing much more actively, Little River gradually built a 15-9 lead. Both teams would only score one or two points before the other team would get the ball back. With the score 20-18 in Little River's favor, the Redskins rattled off four straight points, but the Bluebirds battled back and got as close as 21-24 before the match ended on a Goessel serving error.
The final match of the tournament for the Goessel team was against the Ell Saline Cardinals. Goessel was seeded seventh and Ell Saline was sixth in the tournament and the Cardinals had defeated the Bluebirds twice during the season. Goessel started the game with three servers all collecting serving errors, but with the score in Goessel's favor 8-6, Brianna Unrau served an ace and the Bluebirds scored four straight points. The Cardinals got as close as 14-12 but Kory Hiebert dominated on hitting from the front row and the Bluebirds finished the game ahead 25-17.
Game two found the Bluebirds scoring five straight points after a string of errors and leading 6-3 behind the serving of Sarah Unruh. Trenae Wilson set up Hiebert and Courtney Berkholz for many winners. Brandi Raymond and Brittany Voth were not intimidated on the back row and returned many of the Cardinal hits. Goessel led 20-17 and then scored five straight points to win the match 25-17.
Goessel's record is now 13-16 and they will be the three seed in the 1A regional Tournament at Centre on Tuesday at 3 p.m. Goessel will be matched against Tescott, whom the Bluebirds beat in the first night of the season.
Goessel volleyball qualifies for league tournament
Goessel defeated Sedgwick for the second time this season, and the win propelled Goessel into the seventh place slot of the eight team Heart of America League Tournament held Saturday at Inman.
Although it took three games, 18-25, 25-22, 25-21, to defeat Sedgwick, Coach Sandy Banman was pleased with the effort.
"We have found out that Ashley Ensz's foot injury will keep her out for the rest of the season, so we are making adjustments to playing without her," she said.
Goessel lost to Little River, 25-8 and 25-8, to end the HOA regular season with a 3-7 record in the league and 11-12 overall. The teams that will be in the same pool as Goessel at the tournament will be Inman, Little River, and Ell Saline. The second pool will feature Moundridge, Remington, Hutch Trinity and Sedgwick. Peabody, Berean and Canton-Galva did not qualify for the end of the season tournament.
