English Valleys gets win at Wapello tournament

The Lady Bears were looking to continue some early season confidence when they travelled to Wapello on August 29. They found some success throughout their three matches, losing the first and third, but winning the second.  

The first opponent was host Wapello, which won both sets 21-13, 21-10.  

Audrey Grove had six of the team's 11 kills, and Lexie Miller had five digs. Sydney Olson contributed the most offense for E.V. with five aces in five serves to go along with three kills. 

"We came out very strong against Wapello, but our consistency wasn't there," said head coach Becky Becker.  

The Bears got a confidence boost in the second match when they played against Keota.  

Mallory Hester finished with five aces in her 15 serves and led the team with four assists. Sydney Olson and Lexie Miller combined for 17 of E.V.'s 24 digs. The first set resulted in a 21-16 win for E.V. and a closer second set 21-18.  

The final match was against Burlington-Notre Dame with neither set falling in favor of E.V. 

Burlington closed out E.V. 21-15, 21-11 to end the day.  

Sydney Olson was perfect at the service line with seven serves, one being the team's lone ace. She also contributed with four digs and three kills. Maddy Shaw also made all five of her serves in and tallied four digs.  

"We have to do well at receiving serves and with our front line," Becker said. "Our team needs to gel more and play consistent."