The Boone Central/Newman Grove volleyball team defeated West Point-Beemer at Newman Grove Oct. 21, but couldn’t keep up with a powerful Guardian Angels C.C. squad Monday in the opening round of the annual Mid-State Conference Tournament.
Although a 9-25, 15-25, 25-22, 10-25 loss might not seem encouraging at a glance, when it comes against the #4 ranked team in Class C2 – a team that swept the Cardinals earlier this season – BC/NG Coach Susan Roberts felt it did show progress by her charges.
“I was happy with the overall play tonight, although we got off to a very slow start,” Roberts said. “We picked up our offense and our tempo and played more competitively as the match progressed.
“It was great to see how far we have come since the last time we played them,” Roberts praised. “We couldn’t keep up with them in early September and, last night, we took a set and competed with them at a higher level.”
Boone Central/Newman Grove had improved to 9-15 the previous week with a 25-22, 25-22, 28-26 win over West Point-Beemer.
The Cardinal JV also pulled out a 26-24, 25-23 victory, while the BC/NG 9th/10th squad dropped a 26-24, 11-25, 8-15 decision.
“We played three good games to end our regular season,” Roberts commented. “Our 9/10 did not get a win, but played competitively. Overall, they have shown great improvement since the beginning of the year. I felt the JV showed a great deal of poise and control, and executed consistently throughout.
“The varsity put together a solid attack and played great defense. We’ve been struggling to execute consistently and I felt we kept our composure well and kept moving and communicating.
“When it came to crunch time at the end of each set, we really bucked down, made good decisions and executed well.”
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