Leopold volleyball team handles host Indians in three games

~ Hot serving by the Wildcats turned the momentum

Denai Arnzen's hard work in practice finally paid off Saturday afternoon as the Leopold Wildcats defeated the Jackson Indians 25-20, 21-25, 25-22 in volleyball action.

Arnzen walked behind the server's line in the decisive game with the match tied at 7-7. The Wildcats enjoyed an 11-7 lead after four perfectly placed aces. The Indians never led again.

"I've really been working on my serve in practice," Arnzen said. "I've been serving a lot, like a lot of serves. The other day I probably served 300 serves."

A kill by the Indians' Kasey King eventually halted the Wildcats' run, which started with Arnzen's relentless serving. King finished with six kills.

"It felt good of course," King said about her play at the net. "But I wish we would have won. It was a close game. I just think it's good for us and helps us out to get ready for districts."

The Wildcats scored seven of the next eight points following King's kill to take an 18-9 lead. Leopold middle hitter Abby Landewee scored three points during the scoring sequence on two kills and a block.

The Indians managed to battle back to tie the game at 22-22 late in third game to force a Wildcats timeout. Leopold took the final three points of the match, with Mallory James netting the match-winning kill.

"I think overall we did OK," Wildcats coach Sandy Davis said. "We made a few mistakes and our serve receive was hideous the first game. We moved the ball around well because they were really keying on Abby. Serve receive improved as the game went on."

The Indians opened the match strong by scoring three of the first four points on aces by Kelsey McDowell and Melinna Craft to build a 4-1 lead.

"We are an aggressive serving team," Jackson coach Maile Gannon said. "We've got a lot of jump servers. When we are serving well, it keeps the other team out of system. That's what we want."

Despite the strong start, the Wildcats battled back to take their first lead of the match at 9-8. Leopold never trailed again in the opening game, eventually building a 22-17 advantage and taking the opening game 25-20.

"I didn't feel like we were really ready to play," Gannon said. "The intensity level was very flat. I think we expected Leopold would make more mistakes for us to give up the points. I just felt like we were unprepared for the match."

The second game proved to be the Indians' strongest of the night. Back-to-back kills by Jackson attacker Natalie Miller gave the Indians a 19-15 lead.

"It feels good like that when you can play that way against a ranked team," Miller said.

"Natalie got a great jump and a good read," Gannon said. "Most of her kills came from hitting over the block and into the middle-back court. Leopold was running what we call a middle-back defense, so if we hit the ball high and over the block, then we scored on the middle back or she scored in the seam of the block, which means the block didn't close."

A kill by Jackson's Kylie Seyer on game point helped the Indians earn the 25-21 win.

"I thought we served a little more aggressively in the second set," Gannon said. "We did a better job of keeping them out of their offense. But Leopold had more mistakes on their side in the second set, which contributed more to our points."

Landewee had 11 kills, seven digs and three blocks for the Wildcats. James tallied seven kills, seven digs and four blocks. Sydney Eeftink added 24 assists.

McDowell finished with 16 assists for the Indians. Miller and King had six kills apiece. Haley Bohnert had 15 digs and Seyer had 14 digs.

The Wildcats, ranked No. 5 in the latest Class 1 poll, will participate in next week's Mississippi Valley Conference tournament at Greenville. The title match is slated for Friday.

"I think this win will really boost us up a lot and get us pumped for the next week," Arnzen said. "We are ready."