Vikings volleyball remains undefeated

PALOUSE — After defeating Waitsburg, 3-0, on Tuesday, Sept. 10 to start the season, the Garfield-Palouse Vikings volleyball team won their next two matches last week.

The Vikings defeated the Dayton Bulldogs, 3-0, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, and beat the Tekoa-Rosalia Timberwolves, 3-1, on Thursday, Sept. 19.

Vikings down Bulldogs

Against Dayton, the set scores were 25-12, 25-14 and 25-15. Vikings junior Clare Bowechop led the team with five aces and nine digs while also notching seven kills. Sophomore Kyra Brantner led with nine kills, and sophomore Kaylee Kimble had 16 assists.

For Dayton, Peyton Benavides led the Bulldogs with nine kills and Alexa Jones had three aces.

“We were short a starter on Tuesday and even with that change, the girls came out and played well,” Garfield-Palouse coach Genna Bessey said. “We are very scrappy and work to save every ball.”

Taking on the Timberwolves

Garfield-Palouse received its first set loss of the season against Tekoa-Rosalia on Thursday night, but still defeated the Timberwolves, 3-1. Set scores were 25-15, 25-21, 20-25, 25-13.

“We started this match very strong with a quick Game 1 win,” Bessey said. “Game 2 we saw some slumps in our serve receive and managed to pull out a win there too. Game 3 we seemed to have lost our mojo. Our energy and confidence levels took a hit and we struggled a lot on serve receive. After talking a regrouping, they came out on fire in Game 4 and played our best game so far.”

The Vikings collectively had 87 kills, five blocks, 42 aces, 56 digs and 30 assists.

Brantner led her team with 30 kills, junior Elena Flansburg had three blocks, Bowechop had 20 aces and 17 digs, with Kimble attaining 22 assists.

“These girls work hard and battle their way through the ups and downs,” Bessey said. “They are an extremely enjoyable team to coach and to watch play. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season.”

Garfield-Palouse went on to play a home match against the Colton Wildcats on Tuesday, Sept. 24, after press time. Next up is an away match against Pomeroy at 6 p.m. today, Thursday, Sept. 26.