WEBB CITY, Mo. —Three matches, three wins.
That’s how the Webb City High School volleyball team has begun the 2020 season.
The Cardinals kept their record unblemished by earning a 3-1 victory over Aurora on Monday night inside the Cardinal Dome.
The scores in the best-of-five sets match were 24-26, 25-15, 25-16, 25-21.
Webb City has also earned wins over Bentonville West and Harrisonville thus far.
“I think these three wins have helped us develop some more grit,” Webb City coach Rhonda Lawrence said. “We have a few people playing in different positions right now and the girls have been fighting hard. We’ve been missing a couple of key players, but we’ve been able to fight through. I know we’ve got a better level of play ahead of us.”
Senior Maddy Peeples, sophomore Brenda Lawrence and junior Makenzie Storm have been a formidable trio at the net and from the service line for the Cardinals.
“Maddy’s been Maddy,” Coach Lawrence said of the team’s standout. “She’s consistent. She’s been carrying more of the load with a couple of our girls out. Maddy’s stepped it up and has been helping the younger ones out. She’s more of a leader this year.”
“Brenda has stepped up as a sophomore after she played very little varsity last year,” Coach Lawrence said. “She’s given us a lot of strong swings and a strong serve. Kenzie is all over the place for us. She makes a lot of touches and gets a lot done in the middle.”
A senior outside hitter who earned all-state and all-conference recognition a year ago, the 5-foot-10 Peeples led the Cardinals with 17 digs, 11 kills and two aces on Monday night.
A 5-10 sophomore outside hitter, Brenda Lawrence contributed 11 kills, four digs and two aces. A 6-1 junior middle blocker/middle hitter, Storm had 10 digs, nine kills, four blocks and four aces.
Senior setter Anna Hettinger handed out 23 assists and served two aces, while sophomore Kyah Sanborn compiled nine digs and two aces. Sophomore libero Farryn Holcomb had 11 digs, while junior Avery Westhoven chipped in six digs and six assists.
Lawrence noted her team has been competing without seniors Sage Crane and Abby Stork. Lawrence said both players are set to rejoin the lineup. Crane is an all-conference libero, while Stork is a defensive specialist.
“Sage and Abby are like the peas and carrots of our defense for sure,” Lawrence said. “They bring a different ball-control to us. I know they’re excited and ready to go. They’ll make everyone’s lives easier when they’re back on the court.”
MATCH RECAP
Webb City had to come-from-behind in Monday’s non-conference clash with Aurora.
With late kills from Jacey Lee and Belle Marquier, the scrappy Houn’ Dawgs took the first set.
“We got off to a slow start,” Lawrence said. “It’s hard to come in on a day we’re not in school. We seemed to be sluggish and not really up to par.”
But the Cardinals got a roll and won the second and third sets in convincing fashion.
“The second and third sets we got into a better groove,” Lawrence said. “We looked more confident. We finally got going.”
In the second set, Webb City led 15-10 after a kill and an ace from Peeples, along with a kill from Storm. Late kills from Lawrence, senior right side hitter Ella Cates and Storm finished off the set.
It was more of the same in the third set, as the Cardinals took control from the start. Webb City held a 14-6 advantage after an ace from Lawrence. The Cardinals led 20-11 en route to victory.
In the fourth set, Aurora stormed out to an 11-3 lead, but the Cardinals rattled off 10 of the next 12 points to deadlock the score at 13.
Peeples and Hettinger had kills for the Cardinals before a kill from Lawrence gave the hosts a 23-21 lead. Aurora committed a serve-receive error on the next point, ending the night.
“A fourth set is hard,” Lawrence said. “We’ve been training pretty hard so we’re not the ones running out of gas in a fourth or fifth set. I think that’s helped us. We’ve been preparing for longer rallies and longer games. We were way too sloppy tonight, so I was just glad we were able to pull it off.”
Aurora is now 1-2. Marquier had 14 digs and nine kills for the Houn’ Dawgs, while Hannah Hudson added 10 digs and seven kills. Kymaran Darnall had eight kills, Gabie McVey had 22 digs and Jacey Willcock handed out 14 assists.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Aurora is scheduled to host Carl Junction on Thursday. Webb City will travel to Seneca on Sept. 15.
