By Skip Hunter –

After wins in Lamberton and Adrian last week, the SWC volleyball team hoped that home cooking would help them with continued success. In game one against Murray County Central, the Eagles flew high to a 25-14 win. However, the Rebels regrouped and won the next 3 games and the match.

The seniors were lauded for their contributions to the Eagle volleyball program before the varsity game started. Those seniors are Makenna Brands and Lindsie Fick who patrol the back line, Makenna Moss and Paris VanDyke who do the heavy lifting up front. Also celebrated was Manager Kayla VanderSchaaf. VanderSchaaf­­­­ has taken over the work with the I-Pad which helps in the writing of these stories.

Vivian Dyk sang the national anthem, and the varsity squads were off. Sienna Tripp passed to Ana Veldkamp and the setter sent the ball over the net for a kill. Tripp and Moss combined on a block to make the score 2-1. Madysen Fey had a tip kill to add to the Eagle score. However, MCC put together a run to tie the score at 7. VanDyke had two kills aided by a Myah VanderMaten pass and 2 Veldkamp sets. The teams traded points with Jocelyn Barron getting a kill as well as Veldkamp. Brands made a pass to Veldkamp who set Fey to make the score 13-13. The teams traded hitting errors; with the score tied at 14 Fey took to the serving line. 11 serves later the Eagles had the victory, 25-14. Most of the Eagle points came on Rebel errors. Moss had a block and a kill during the run.

The Eagle faithful were jubilant after game 1, but game two brought them back to earth. SWC committed 26 errors in game 2 as they went down to a 29-27 defeat. After 2 errors the Eagles got kills from Fey and Veldkamp to tie the score at 2. Fey then served up an ace, but a combination of errors by both sides and an MCC kill made the score 6-6. Barron tied the score at 7 with a kill. Later blocks by Barron and Fey kept SWC close, but MCC led 11-9. VanDyke made a pass to Fey who set the senior to tie the score at 15. Barron picked up a kill and a block to give the Eagles an 18-17 advantage. Veldkamp also blocked back a Rebel kill attempt, but 2 hitting errors narrowed the score to 20-19. Brands had a pair of passes to Veldkamp who set Fey and Moss to give the Eagles a 23-21 lead. 3 SWC errors gave the lead back to MCC before Moss blocked the ball to tie the score at 24. Barron did the same to make the count 25-25. Veldkamp had a block and Barron a kill giving the Eagles a 27-26 advantage, but MCC scored 3 consecutive points for the 29-27 win.

Photos by Vonda Talsma