Lady Bucs stumble in first matches of season
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With teammates Isabella Field (5), Haven Kimble (1) and Hannah Bagby (10) close by to help, Taylor Gilbert (9) pops a return over the net during the match versus Asotin. Gilbert had four kills and scored five aces on 12 of 13 serving.
POMEROY––The Lady Pirates are off to a bit of a rough start, and Head Coach Adam VanVogt sees potential in his squad, confident that this relatively young team–only three seniors and three juniors return from last year's team–will build skills and experience as the season progresses.
The Bucs, after playing in Dayton's Jamboree, visited St. John/Endicott-LaCrosse Sept. 5, losing in three sets 14-25, 11-25, 6-25, then hosted Asotin's Lady Panthers on Sept. 7, falling in a more competitive three sets of 18-25, 22-25, 21-25.
"I was very pleased at how hard the girls worked and fought," VanVogt said, "but we had too many errors and SJEL's experience and returning upperclassmen proved difficult to overcome."
Junior outside hitter Taylor Gilbert was a standout against SJEL with three kills and serving five of five. Freshman Haven Kimble counted eight assists and five perfect serves. Bethany Zimmerman counted four digs.
-EW photo by Naomi Scoggin
It was hand-to-hand combat for Lady Pirate Haven Kimble (1), who went up against Asotin's front line in action from the three-set loss to the Lady Panthers last week. Kimble had a good match against SJEL, serving a perfect five of five and making eight assists.
"Ten girls played varsity for the first time this week and there is a learning process this group is going to go through," the coach continued. "The passion these girls played with and the improvement was undeniable and is so fun for me to coach. These girls showed a ton of heart and glimpses of great volleyball and I can't wait to watch them learn to unlock their potential as they gain experience throughout the rest of the season."
The Lady Pirate offense had a better showing against Asotin at home, hanging with the Panthers. "We looked dynamic at times and are getting better defensively," VanVogt said. "The big focus will be to clean up our unforced errors and to work on getting lower on defense.
"I was proud of how hard we played as I know the girls were tired after playing on the road two straight nights before and we were in every game despite the adversity," VanVogt said.
"Ultimately, a key mistake here and there cost us when we were making runs or were close late," he said. "However, we got better each time we played this week and did so many positive things on which we can build.
