Warrenton volleyball takes home second place at the Cuba Tournament

By Kelly Bowen, Staff Writer
Posted 9/29/24

After playing five games, including 11 sets, while experiencing a couple of pains and bruises during the day, the Warrenton girls volleyball team placed second at the Cuba Tournament on Sept. 21.

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Warrenton volleyball takes home second place at the Cuba Tournament

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After playing five games, including 11 sets, while experiencing a couple of pains and bruises during the day, the Warrenton girls volleyball team placed
second at the Cuba Tournament on Sept. 21.

The Warriors won three games and tied one, which advanced them to the
championship game against Jefferson. They dropped both sets 25-12 and 25-17, but placed second overall out of eight teams.

The team came into the tournament on a four-game skid, which Head Coach
Kayla Nelson noted was not because of lack of skill.

“We were coming into that tournament to play our best and not play down to people,” Nelson said. “We’re really starting to pull everything together as a team and we’ve been working on putting emphasis on that into the game.”

The Warriors put emphasis on improving their defense, specifically when it comes to blocking.

Nelson said that she was able to take a step back throughout the tournament, because players were stepping up and talking to one another about what
needs to be fixed and what’s working.

“It was so nice that they are aware of what needs to happen and it felt good to them to be winning and they wanted to keep doing it. Individually, they were taking initiative to talk to their team,” Nelson said.

Nelson pointed out that one player, Erin Klasing, really stood out to her throughout the day. Klasing is a senior and a captain.

“She really stepped up in those timeouts, talking to her teammates and saying, we’ve got this guys, we’ve worked hard for this and we want this so keep pushing,” Nelson said.

The Warriors had to adjust throughout the day after their starting outside hitter, Chandler Blondin, had to leave in the later half of the day. Maicey Miller replaced Blondin and Nelson said the team did a great job adjusting.

Later, in the championship game, Emma Eskew got injured and had to sit the rest of the game out.

“I had to throw Zoe Duncan in, who has never seen the outside a day in her life, but she took on that role and she did really well out there competing for us in that championship game,” Nelson said.

After a successful day, Nelson is hoping they can translate their level of play from Saturday into future games.

“We’ve been working on being able to push through things and always keep momentum on our side and I think this weekend can help them realize what it
took to do that,” Nelson said. “We’re still going to have to build on it and we’re still working towards good mental toughness, but I think this weekend definitely put us in the right direction.”


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