The Gehlen Catholic volleyball took the win in a five-set classic in Le Mars over MMCRU. The Jays on the second, third, and fifth sets to take home a crucial War Eagle Conference victory.
The Jays dropped the first set after leading 23-17 and giving up nine of 10 points to drop the set 26-24. Gehlen Catholic head coach Jessie Bohnenkamp says that was a disappointing start, and it has followed a troubling trend throughout the early part of the season.
While MMCRU won the first set, they still were not playing up to the level they have come to expect. They did not hit that level until dominating the fourth set by the score of 25-7. MMCRU head coach Heather Youde says her team was not playing free all night.
Coach Youde says the fourth set was successful due to many changes with the offensive approach.
Coach Youde also says the defensive play of her front row and libero Ember Staver was crucial.
After falling in the fourth set by a large margin, Gehlen Catholic came out determined in the fifth set to make sure that it did not define the match. Coach Bohnenkamp says she was happy to see the girls move past the fourth quickly.
Coach Bohnenkamp says getting Kenadee Sitzmann the ball more in the front row helped propel them to the win in the fifth.
MMCRU does not waste any time getting back to competition with a tournament on Saturday at West Monona. Coach Youde says that tournament will test her team well.
Gehlen Catholic also heads to the West Monona Tournament following the win, and Coach Bohnenkamp says this win in five sets gives her team a lot of confidence going into it.
After all was said and done on Saturday at west Monona, Gehlen Catholic was sitting at 10-4 on the season and 4-1 in the War Eagle Conference. MMCRU was at 9-7 overall and 2-2 in War Eagle Conference play.
