By Nick Beversdorf
Reporter
In a turnaround from Tuesday’s hard-fought match against Eau Claire North that ultimately ended in defeat, Merrill volleyball defeated SPASH 25-22 all three sets for another conference win last night.
Morgan Wardall was on fire at the net, garnering 18 kills with just one error out of 41 attempts. Katie Zelinski was right behind her with nine kills and five errors out of 37 attempts. Kaylee Bowe and Kelsie Belfiori each had four kills, with the former having three errors out of nine attempts and the later having one error out of 23 attempts.
Serving was much improved, especially after set one. Although there were not as many aces as usual, there were significantly less errors. Lindsey Casper and Taylor Cichy had the most attempts at 17 and 16, respectively, both error-free. Casper also had one ace along with 12 set assists. Belfori led the aces with two. She also had just one error out of 11 attempts.
Maddix Bonnell also made a return after a four-game hiatus, serving an ace and an error out of 12 attempts. Wardall had two errors out of 10 serve attempts and Madisen Weix had one ace and two errors out of seven attempts.
Belfiori and Cichy also came in handy with their ability to save the ball, both with 16 digs. In regards to passing, Cichy had 16 perfect passes, 28 good passes, five okay passes and three incompletes. Belfiori had five perfect, 17 good, two incompletes.
“Tonight we had a bit of a break out in our play compared to the last two weeks,” comments head coach Kris Krug. “After our first set, our serving and passing improved tremendously – then we threw in a few blocks to help. It was great to see those skills coming into play and putting us in the position to win these sets. It was good to stay the course and stay on track within the conference.
“We are looking forward to the WVC Conference Tournament – the second leg on Oct. 8. We plan to have a much better round this time.”
The second leg of the WVC Conference will be held at DC Everest on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 9 a.m.
For full match stats, click here.
