Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
The Kimball High Volleyball Team is back on the plus side of the win column after registering three wins this past week to run their season record to 10-9.
In a triangular at Potter-Dix they handled Bayard 25-13 25-21, and then won over Potter-Dix 26-24 15-25 25-14. At Morrill in a dual match they won over the Lady Lions 25-16 25-22 25-12. The Lady Longhorns were on the attack and playing with confidence and coach Vicki Mitchell had words of praise for her team.
"In the Bayard match, it was the first time we had faced Bayard, which is a conference foe. We had a steady effort throughout the games which was definitely nice to see after the inconsistent play of some of our previous outings. The team displayed some confidence that we haven't seen for a while which we will use as a building block as we prepare for SPVA conference tournament play this weekend. As the passing has improved, so has our setting which leads to more consistent hitting. We intend to continue to improve and fix our weaknesses as we head into tournament play," said Mitchell.
Commenting on the Potter-Dix win which avenged an earlier loss to the Lady Coyotes on the Kimball court, Coach Mitchell said, "In this match the girls showed that even though we have taken some losses lately we have still been improving the level of our play. All of the starters are contributing and the team relies on each of their strengths. The digging of Ali Hunsaker and Raelynn Hinton allow Madison Biesecker and Danika Daum to lead the team in assists and kills. Madie Snyder and Jannel Fiehtner start the offense off with solid serve receptions and the team can score with the accurate serving of freshman Hannah Biesecker. Alex Reader continues to supply a burst of energy off the bench as was evident in her entrance into the game with an ace block."
As to the win at Morrill, coach Mitchell said, "This was a nice conference win to finish out the week. It was a great team effort with everyone on the varsity seeing playing time during the match." There was no freshman match at Morrill so all of the freshman and junior varsity players saw quality playing time in the JV match which Kimball won 25-10 25-19. Justine Heeg was 21 of 21 from the serving line scoring 14 points with 5 ace serves.
Kimball was certainly on the attack this past week as the stat sheets showed. Danika Daum had 12 kills against Bayard, 18 against Potter-Dix, and 16 against Morrill! Credit a lot of Daum's success to the assists of Madison Biesecker who had 13 in the Bayard match, 21 against Potter-Dix, and 20 against Morrill. Madie Snyder had 24 points in the 3 matches, Madison Biesecker 22, and Hannah Biesecker 17. Ali Hunsaker and Raelynn Hinton led the team in digs going 24 and 16 for their highs in the Potter-Dix match when the team registered 98 total including 19 from Daum, 15 from Snyder and 10 from Madison Biesecker.
Kimball will be the number four seed in Saturday's SPVA Conference Tournament being held at Sutherland and after the strong week of play they are coming off of the Horns could make a run at the title.