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Williamstown volleyball falls to Magnolia

By Jay W. Bennett 5 min read

WILLIAMSTOWN -- Olivia Buttrey recorded six of her team-high baker's dozen kills during Williamstown's 25-18 opening set victory versus Magnolia here Thursday night, but the Blue Eagles took the next three sets by scores of 25-16, 25-13 and 25-13 to improve to 3-1 on the campaign.

Williamstown, which is playing this season without setter Maggie Frye and middle hitter Chloe Mulligan due to injuries, had just two other leads that came at 1-0 in set two thanks to a Siena Strcula kill and again at 1-0 in set three following a Buttrey service tally.

"They're pretty good," admitted WHS head coach Rachelle Cole, who got 10 kills from Strcula, seven by Kennedy Rush and a quartet apiece from Riley Haines and Lila Bartenschlag as Jordyn Gains put up a match-high 34 assists. "We're young. Like that's the bottom line. The girls work hard and I think there's a lot of potential there.

"We just have to trust the process and trust each other. I think they have a lot more growth they can do this year and they look good sometimes. Because they are young, consistency will come. We have a pretty hard schedule. We'll just keep going and keep pushing through."

Magnolia, which returns to action on Monday at Cameron, only trailed 7-6 in the opening set after Mia Longwell recorded the first of her four kills via one of Sydney Quinet's 33 assists. However, the Yellowjackets took control by scoring the next eight points that featured three Buttrey downed spikes, an ace and a kill by Rush as well as a kill apiece from Haines and Bartenschlag.

Back-to-back aces by Longwell cut it to 19-10 as the Blue Eagles later rallied all the way back to 20-17 behind the serving of Kiera Dowler, but the 'Jackets got set point in the best-of-five dual thanks to a Strcula block.

A Quinet ace put the Blue Eagles ahead 2-1 early in set two as Karli Warder owned the net in the middle to help forge a 10-6 advantage. MHS still led 11-9 after a kill by Audri Quinn, but the hosts squared it at 11 via a Rush downed spike.

Bella Sockman, who joined her fellow middle hitter Warder with a match-high 16 kills, proceeded to put one to the floor to give the visitors the lead for good.

Magnolia pushed in front 19-13 after libero Hallie Biesel had an ace and it was 24-16 after Dowler served up an ace as a Warder block made it a best-of-three affair.

Sockman had four kills and a block to open the third set as the Blue Eagles grabbed an early 6-4 lead. Magnolia went from an 8-5 cushion after a Longwell ace to a 17-8 advantage with the help of four straight kills from Sockman.

Although a Gains ace later made it 17-13, the Blue Eagles tallied the final eight points of the set that featured consecutive aces by Quinet and two more Sockman kills.

Williamstown was unable to get back on track in the final set as Magnolia bolted out to a 5-0 edge behind the serving of Kenzy Longwell, who had a pair of aces in the run.

The Yellowjackets staved off a pair of match points thanks to a Buttrey kill and a Jadyn Lee ace, but Warder's final kill ended it.

"I think we're just now starting to come together," admitted Magnolia boss Pam Chapman. "I'll tell you what. Williamstown was really scrappy and we told them that beforehand because they always are. A ball is never down even though you think it is. I think we were kind of a little bit, you know, just not anticipating that and we got settled in. I think our middles did a great job. I think our passing started coming along.

"I think in that first set our passing wasn't there so we couldn't get our offense running, but after that we settled in. We were missing a lot of serves these past matches that we've had. I'll tell you what. This all-in-all was probably our best match that we've had already this season. It's all starting to click."

Williamstown, which slipped to 3-5, returns to the court at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday for a dual at Herbert Hoover.

Coach Chapman also was pleased her team finished with just a pair of service errors.

"We still have a ways to go," she said. "We still have things we need to work on.

"I think if they keep progressing like they are now, I think we'll be OK down the road."

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

At Williamstown

Magnolia d. Williamstown 18-25, 25-16, 25-13, 25-13

Magnolia (3-1) stats: Mia Longwell 3 aces, 4 K; Hallie Biesel 1 ace, 1 AST, 1 K; Bella Sockman 16 K; Sydney Quinet 3 aces, 33 AST, 3 K; Kiera Dowler 1 ace; Kenzy Longwell 2 aces; Karli Warder 16 K; Audri Quinn 2 K

Williamstown (3-5) stats: Olivia Buttrey 1 AST, 13 K; Riley Haines 1 ace, 4 K; Kennedy Rush 1 ace, 7 K; Siena Strcula 10 K; Audrey Strcula 1 ace; Lila Bartenschlag 4 K; Jordyn Gains 34 AST; Jadyn Lee 1 ace

Next matches: Williamstown at Herbert Hoover, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday; Magnolia at Cameron on Monday.

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