8th GRADE JUNIOR LADY PUP VOLLEYBALL SPLIT WITH CIRCLE

‘A’ TEAM WINS

By Staff

TOWANDA – On Monday, the McPherson Middle School 8th grade volleyball teams went to Towanda and split a set of matches with Circle Middle School to close out their 2023 regular season.

For the 8th grade Junior Lady Pup ‘A’ team they lost their first set with Circle, 23-25, before powering back to win sets two and three, 25-20 and 15-7, to get the match victory.

“We finished the season strong with a win,” commented head coach Christine Pianalto. “We started a little slow, with some poor serve receiving. However, the girls served pretty strongly and began to put pressure on at the net with attacks and kills. Our passing improved in sets two and three as the team played with more energy and passion.”

With the win the ‘A’ team finished their 2023 regular season at 14-3 as they head into the Patriot League Tournament on Saturday, October 14 at Buhler Prairie Hills Middle School.

Despite losing their match to Circle (12-25 / 13-25), the 8th-grade Junior Pup ‘B’ team closed out the 2023 season at .500 with a 10-10 record.

According to ‘B’ team coach Tami Malm in her end-of-the-season reflections, “The team fell short to a good Circle team. We were down by quite a bit in the first set and found our fight, but it was just too late. Our passing was off, and we were caught flat footed too many times. In both sets, serving was our strong point, just not quite enough to finish. Even though it was hard to end our season with a loss, it was fun to see the girls improve for time.”

(The Staff covering McPherson County Activities can be reached by email at macks.people.places@gmail.com)