Losses not reflective of MFL MarMac volleyball team’s level of play
Senior Avery Lamborn sets the ball in MFL MarMac’s 3-1 loss to Turkey Valley on Oct. 10. (Photos by Audrey Posten)
Keagan Echard blasts a serve in MFL MarMac's Oct. 10 game against the Trojans.
Lauryn Johnson picked up 19 digs and had a strong serve-receive game versus Turkey Valley.
Maddie Keehner goes up for a block against the Trojans.
Devon Meyer attempts a kill in last week's match with Turkey Valley.
By Audrey Posten | Times-Register
The MFL MarMac volleyball team fell to 5-20 overall and 2-5 in the Upper Iowa Conference last week with losses to North Fayette Valley and Turkey Valley. However, head coach Becky Johnson stressed the record isn’t reflective of the Bulldogs’ effort and continued improvement.
That was demonstrated in a 3-0 loss to NFV on Oct. 8, in which MFL MarMac challenged the conference leader with 25-23 scores in two of the sets. The TigerHawks won the other 25-16.
“We knew that NFV would be our toughest match in the conference with them being undefeated in conference play. We came so close to pulling out a win. We definitely made them work for their win,” Johnson said. “I’m proud of my team’s effort. They all worked extremely hard.”
The Bulldogs continued to serve well, hitting 93.7 percent of attempts. Keagan Echard made 14 of 15 and Morgan Jacobson hit all 10, including an ace. Maddie Keehner added an ace while landing 10 of 11 attempts, while Kacie Picha was nine for 10 with a pair of aces.
Unfortunately, said Johnson, going point for point created some substitution issues.
“I put some individuals in serving roles to help us better our serving percentage, but I ran out of or came close to running out of subs every set we played with them. We can’t get in that situation when we are going point for point with good teams, so I’ll have to look at our subbing going forward so that I have options when needed,” she explained.
MFL MarMac has focused on offense in practice, teaching hitters how to score and assuring they follow through the fundamentals. That was evident in the team’s .159 hitting percentage, almost 12 percent better than the season average.
Keehner came up big with 12 kills and a 0.36 hitting average. Lily Johnson and Avery Lamborn were also offensive threats with a respective nine and eight kills.
“For us to play well, we really need all three of them to be hitting well and putting up the numbers they did against NFV,” Johnson said.
The Bulldogs have additionally focused on blocking. While they didn’t record any versus the TigerHawks, they did a much better job of slowing the ball down, according to Johnson.
MFL MarMac’s back row defenders also provided more opportunities to score.
“Lauryn Johnson continues to play great defense, and then having quick individuals like Lily Johnson and Addison Corlett in the defensive mix really gives us those extra chances,” Johnson said.
Lauryn Johnson had 17 digs, and Lily Johnson and Corlett each totaled nine.
While this wasn’t MFL MarMac’s best stat game, Johnson said it was the best game of the season due to intangibles like chemistry and on court presence.
“It’s the environment of playing at home and the support of our fans. Those are things we have struggled with,” she said. “As a coach, you tell your athletes, ‘There is more to this than volleyball.’ Hopefully that is starting to hit home with them. We were so close to beating the top team in the conference. I’m proud of my team for battling hard.”
The Bulldogs continued to battle Oct. 10, taking Turkey Valley to four sets thanks to a 25-20 victory in the opening frame. The Trojans rebounded in the next three, though, winning 25-22, 25-20 and 26-24 to take the match 3-1.
“We saw Turkey Valley on two different occasions before this conference match-up. I’m sure they were not expecting to go four sets with us, and I hope they were questioning what team they just played, because we are absolutely a different team,” Johnson said. “It was tough losing that fourth set by two, but I couldn’t be more proud of what this team is accomplishing.”
MFL MarMac’s hitting efficiency was again higher than its season average and Johnson called the back row defensive presence the best it’s been.
“But in the long run, the errors hurt us in this match. Turkey Valley did a great job of taking our setter out of our offense, as Addison [Corlett] had 29 digs. That meant we were out of system a lot, but our hitters still remained aggressive at the net,” she shared.
Three Bulldogs earned double-doubles, with Keehner claiming her first with 14 kills and 13 digs. Lily Johnson earned her second of the season with 10 kills and 14 digs, while Corlett netted her third with 39 assists and 29 digs.
Lamborn led the team with 15 kills, and Autumn Shaw contributed three kills, 15 digs and a strong serve-receive game. On the defensive side, Lauryn Johnson picked up 19 digs and also had a strong serve-receive game.
MFL MarMac wrapped up the regular season Oct. 15, at Postville. It’s the same opponent they’ll face in the postseason opener on Monday, Oct. 21. That game will start at 7 p.m. in Monona.
With the post season approaching, Johnson wants the Bulldogs playing volleyball at their highest level.
“We still need to reduce the amount of errors we make in order to make a strong run in the postseason, but I want our fans to remember that this team is young. They are getting the experience and learning this game every match they play. They are most definitely playing at a higher level than they were three weeks ago,” she said.
