Cougars battle in delayed season opener

REINBECK – A road game against an NICL West foe wasn’t exactly the way AGWSR volleyball thought its season would begin.

Nonetheless, the Cougars unleashed a lot of pent-up energy and saw growth over the course of a four-set defeat against Gladbrook-Reinbeck at G-R High School in Reinbeck on Tuesday, Sept. 8.

The Rebels, ranked 11th in Class 1A, defeated AGWSR 25-21, 25-19, 22-25, 25-21. G-R improved to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the West.

“I anticipated that there’d be some nerves,” AGWSR head coach Jill Smith said. “And our energy was just super high to start the match, so you always anticipate that crash, which I felt like we did a little bit.”

After taking a 2-0 lead in the match, G-R seemed well on its way to a sweep with an 8-3 start to the third set. AGWSR responded with a 7-1 scoring run to jump into the lead, and from there neither team could create any real separation until the final moments of the set. G-R was three points away from a sweep at 22-21, but a G-R attack error, sandwiched between two Taylor Sperfslage off-block kills, set the stage for Brynn Smith’s ace serve to extend the match.

That was a much better end result for the Cougars after they lost a 14-9 lead in the first set and fell behind 23-15 in the second set.

“We allowed them to score too many points in a row, but I do feel like we got better as the match went on,” Jill Smith said. “We managed the runs and our energy on our side of the court better. We just have to maintain and be a little more steady.”

In the fourth set, G-R rallied from a four-point deficit with an 11-5 run that included seven points scored off AGWSR errors. The Cougars continued battling, including a long rally on set point, but the Rebels were strong on their blocks to finish off the match.

“Defensively, we did a really good job, we dug the ball and read their hits really well,” Jill Smith said. “We just need to continue to work on transitioning into getting some swings out of that.”

Taylor Sperfslage and Brynn Smith had 14 and 12 kills, respectively, to lead AGWSR’s offense. Smith was also the top defender with 17 digs on Tuesday, with libero Haileigh Homeyer contributing 12 digs.

Natalie Gerstein and Josie Winterberg shared setting duties for an improved offensive scheme that still had to work through some first-match jitters.

Neither team was particularly sharp on Tuesday – AGWSR had 23 attack errors and G-R misfired on 29 attacks. All-state hitter Saari Kuehl led the Rebels with 19 kills on 52 attempts.

“We need to use our middles a little bit more in transition,” Smith said. “We utilize them a lot out of serve receive, but if we can get some swings out of them in transition, that will be really effective for us.”

Whatever the result, getting out on the floor was a good thing for the Cougars.

“We needed to bring that energy to the court,” Smith said. “One of the great things about volleyball is having that momentum and getting the crowd engaged in what’s going on. We have a great group of kids with a lot of energy and we just need to continue to maintain.”

Gladbrook-Reinbeck 25-25-22-25

AGWSR 21-19-25-21

Kills– AGWSR (Taylor Sperfslage 14, Brynn Smith 12, Alyssa Hames 3, MaKenna Kuper 3); G-R (Saari Kuehl 19). Assists– AGWSR (Natalie Gerstein 14, Josie Winterberg 13, Smith 1, Tessa Sperfslage 1); G-R (Emma McClintock 31). Digs– AGWSR (Smith 17, Haileigh Homeyer 12, Gerstein 9, Ta. Sperfslage 7, Alayna Hunt 4, Te. Sperfslage 3, Hames 2); G-R (McClintock 15). Blocks– AGWSR (Ta. Sperfslage 3, Kuper 3, Smith 2, Hames 1); G-R (Megan Cooley 4). Serving– AGWSR (Ta. Sperfslage 15-16, 3 aces; Smith 12-16, 2 aces; Hunt 14-16, ace; Gerstein 17-19; Homeyer 10-10; Te. Sperfslage 6-9; Grace Finger 1-1); G-R (Alyssa Morgan 20-22, 4 aces).