by Kinsey Phipps

Sept. 15 was the first home match for the PCM girls’ varsity volleyball team. The stampeding ‘Stangs took on the mighty Norse from Roland-Story. The match was close, the Mustangs fought hard, but the Norse came out on top. Roland-Story won the sets 3-1.

The PCM girls started slow in the first game, but they came back to lose a close set, as the Norse took it 25-22. Sophomore Avery Stock had a big hand in helping the comeback, as she served killer serve after killer serve. Stock was 13 for 16 serves on the night with five aces.

The second set mirrored the first, as PCM fell short in another close set. Roland-Story won the hard-fought game, 25-19.

Skies outside got darker, but the game got brighter for the Lady ‘Stangs. PCM was on fire, and they kept a lead on the Norse the entire way through, winning 25-17.

“In the third set, we played from start to finish as a team. We had great communication, and we put everything together to pull out the win,” senior Kayla Jennings said.

Roland-Story had two dominant hitters on their team. Sophomore MaKayla Geise had 11 kills against the Mustangs, and senior Krista Mehl racked up 15. The Mustangs had a tough time against Norse hitters, but senior Kaylee Townsend fought back. Townsend led the way in blocks; she stuffed seven Roland-Story kills and assisted one block.

PCM came off the third set on fire, but they weren’t able to pull through. Roland-Story took the victory from the ‘Stangs in the fourth set, winning 25-17.

“If we start out a set not playing as good as we did in the last one, we need to not get down on ourselves and try to get the energy and momentum back that we had,” junior Olivia Lippman said.

Jennings had a successful night, leading the way in assists with 25. Senior Katie Vande Wall was ahead of the stampede in kills, racking up eight attacks. Vande Wall also had the most digs of the night with seven.

The Lady ‘Stangs have a tournament this Saturday, Sept. 24 in Nevada. Come support your varsity netters.