WP volleyball shoots down Flyers

Wauneta-Palisade’s volleyball team improved to 4-1 last week with a five-set win at Franklin.
WP Head Coach Katie Lawless said it was a really good win for the Broncos.
“I wasn’t sure how the girls would respond to a five-set match this early in the season but was extremely proud of their grit to get it done and get the win,” Lawless said.
Two rotations made the difference in the first set.
Tied at nine points each, the Broncos went on a four-point run to take control. The Flyers closed the gap to 16-14, but WP scored five-straight points and cruised to a 25-19 win.
WP trailed once in the second set. The teams were tied at nine and the Broncos only held a one-point advantage, 16-15, at one point, but WP found a higher gear late in the set. Another five-point run gave the Broncos the breathing room they needed for another 25-19 win.
Franklin wasn’t done, however. WP fell behind 0-8 to start the third set. The Broncos worked the deficit down to two points, but couldn’t close the gap. WP lost the set 17-25 and then fell in the fourth set 18-25.
The Flyers shook off another 9-9 tie in the fourth set to force a deciding fifth set.
“In the fifth set we knew our blockers needed to work harder and get to the ball faster and Izzy Stehno came up with a couple huge blocks that really helped us finish it off,” Lawless said.
WP took a 6-5 lead in the fifth and never relinquished it. The lead shrunk to 11-10 but the Broncos finished the match on a 4-1 run for the win.
The Broncos knew 6’1” senior middle hitter Abigail Yelken would be a force and knew they needed to be able to attack around her.
“We did a great job swinging down the line and rolling over her to really make their defense work,” Lawless said, adding that Yelken and Franklin’s other middle blocker did a great job of getting to the ball.
Lawless credited Peyton Cox with a “killer night.”
“She was really tough to stop,” Lawless said.
Heading into the game with the plan to keep the Flyers out of system and limit Yelken’s attacks, Lawless thought WP did that fairly well or at least slowed them down to allow WP to get set in defense.
In JV action, the Broncos came out on top 25-21, 25-22.
Up next
WP hosts Rawlins County, Kansas and St. Francis, Kansas Thursday.
Saturday the Broncos will be at the Hitchcock County Tournament. WP will start the day in Culbertson against Arapahoe (1-2) at 8 a.m. MT then take on Axtell (3-1) at 10:30 a.m. MT.
Pool A in Trenton will have undefeated Alma (7-0), Maywood/Hayes Center (3-1) and Hitchcock County (3-3).
Southwest (5-1) will be at WP for a game next Tuesday.