BY KYLE TROUTMAN ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com
Southwest volleyball wins 7 of final 10 games
Wins were tough to come by early in the season for the southwest volleyball team, but with work and experience, the improvement down the home stretch was reflected on paper.
The Lady Trojans (10-19-3) won 7 of their final 10 games and saw their season come to a close with a 3-1 loss to Marionville.
“We had a 20-win [Lady Comets squad] on the ropes in the fourth set at districts but came up a little short,” said Steve Voyak, Southwest volleyball coach. “To see the growth from the beginning to the end of the season was fun to watch. The girls bought into the system and it worked.”
Voyak said overall, he would grade the success of the 2023 campaign at a C+.
“If a conference or district championship is an ‘A,’ we were certainly under that; but many, many teams do not win conference or district championships and still have successful seasons,” he said. “We were playing our best volleyball at the end of the season and became a difficult team to play against at the end of the year.
“I thought 10 wins was possible and we hit the number.”
Voyak said the greatest improvement on the floor came in serving and serve-reception, with the team finishing serving at 91.1 percent
with 235 aces.
“Junior Laura Jean Henry served at 98 percent, making 345 of 351 serves,” Voyak said. “Junior Riley Flippo served at 95 percent, making 271 of 284 with 38 aces.”
While serving was on the upswing, hitting errors remained a struggle with 489 total on the season.
“We got better, and the girls really worked at it, but when we struggled, it was easy to point to the statistic that was hurting us,” Voyak said.
Southwest was led by its seniors, Lyric Bernard, Juliauna Sierra and Brooklynn Slye, who Voyak said all played their best seasons in four years with the program.
“Lyric was named to two all-tournament teams and finished with 567 digs and 529 receptions in her first year as a libero,” he said. “Jules was second on the team in kills with 127, second in digs at 353 and second in receptions with 436 and added 42 aces. Brooklynn served at 90 percent and had 277 digs and 90 kills.”
Looking to pick up next year where they’ve left off this year will be five letter-winners: Kaleigh Tull, with 109 kills, 29 aces and 22 blocks; Montana Skelton, with 94 digs, 54 kills and 6 blocks; Marissa Freeman, with 145 kills, 59 aces, 92 digs and 16 blocks; Henry, with 494 assists and 271 digs; and Flippo, with 177 receptions, 154 digs.
“Freshman defensive specialist Olivia Hnem and middle Lillian Barnett, and sophomores Rylee Hobbs and Emma Outhouse should also give the team better depth going forward,” Voyak said.
When 2024 rolls around, Voyak wants to pick up in the same place, too.
“We’ll hope to improve our win total and cut down on the hitting errors, and to improve the attacking statistics,” he said.
An off-the-court highlight this season, Southwest held two Pink Out events in early October, raising $1,300 for a local breast cancer patient.
The team also sports a collective GPA of 3.94, with all eight varsity players named Academic All-State.
