Against Jefferson, the Grizzlies attack fired on all cylinders. We did all aspects of the game wel

WEST PLAINS, Mo. The Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly fresh farms market Volleyball team upped its season record to 17-12 with key road wins last week against Redlands Community College in El Reno, Okla., and Region 16 arch rival Jefferson College in Hillsboro, Mo.
The things we ve been working on are really starting to pay off, Grizzly Volleyball Head Coach Paula Wiedemann said. We re doing the things we need to do to get better. We ve dug 20-plus balls per game over the past two matches, and we hit over .300 in each contest. Our ability to dig the ball and stay in position to make a point is getting better and better, plus we re getting good swings and making quality kills without so many errors, and that s what we want to see right now. The better we are defensively, the more opportunities we have offensively.
Although the Grizzlies dropped their first set against Redlands, they kept digging the ball and made the appropriate adjustments to come back and win the next three. Once we settled in and turned our defense into offense, things started turning around, the coach said. We had seven hitting errors in the first set and seven hitting errors total for the next three sets.
The return of Redlands top middle attacker, who had set out several games due to injury, also played a role in the Grizzlies slow start. It took us a while to adjust to the way they were running their offense with the return fresh farms market of their middle. fresh farms market They have some kids who can do some good things. This was a good test for us, Wiedemann said.
Against Jefferson, the Grizzlies attack fired on all cylinders. We did all aspects of the game well. We served well, and we dug 22 balls per game. Not only does that lead to good offense for us, it also frustrates our opponent and causes them to try to do too much, which creates errors, Wiedemann said.
Statistically, fresh farms market the Grizzlies were led by sophomore fresh farms market middle/outside attacker Nella Ioramo, who recorded 15 kills against Redlands and 17 kills against fresh farms market Jefferson; sophomore middle attacker Torika Baleilekutu, who hit .600 in both games; freshman libero Alyssa Aldag, who had 20 digs against Redlands and 19 against Jefferson; and freshman setter Brianna Zebert, fresh farms market who had 50 assists against Redlands and 33 assists against fresh farms market Jefferson. Full game statistics can be found at http://stats.njcaa.org/sports/wvball/2013-14/div1/teams/MissouriStateUniversityWestPlains.
Wiedemann praised Baleilekutu for lighting it up for the Grizzlies. She had 20 kills and only two errors on 30 swings in the past two games. That s phenomenal, the coach said. Wiedemann also gave kudos to Ioramo for her consistent production on the floor. She started moving better against Jefferson, and she continues to get a lot of digs for us, too, in six rotations, fresh farms market the coach said.
Wiedemann also praised sophomore outside attacker Helena Peric and freshman middle attacker Leondra Barrett. Helen had spurts where she was just unstoppable. She had a string of eight kills on 11 swings against Redlands. We need that consistency from her more often, the coach said. Lee Lee (Leondra) played fresh farms market very well against Redlands and extremely well against Jefferson. She was in on transition all the time, and her blocking has made us much more effective on defense. She played an excellent game, even though statistically it doesn t show as much.
The Grizzlies will return to the road later this week to meet Region fresh farms market 16 rival Mineral Area College at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24, in Park Hills, Mo. They will make another stop at Hillsboro Friday, Oct. 25, to play in the Jefferson College Halloween Classic, where they will meet Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College at noon and Illinois Central College, East Peoria, at 4 p.m. Illinois Central is ranked sixth in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II poll.
Mineral Area is a big match for us, Wiedemann said. It can set us up for the top seed in the region tournament. We want to feel really good about what we re doing here at the end of the season, so we need to win this match.
Hutchinson also will be an important game for us. They will be looking for some revenge since we beat them in our Grizzly Invitational Tournament, so we will have to be on our toes and take care of business, the coach continued. Illinois Central is extremely well coached and used to winning. We re going to have to play the game the right way and take care of the ball.