Lady Vikes earn first volleyball win over IKM-M

Trailing 24-19 in third set, AHSTW mounts spirited comeback to complete Western Iowa Conference sweep

 AVOCA (Sept. 11) -- Since IKM-Manning joined the Western Iowa Conference in 2013, the Wolves were 7-0 overall and 5-0 in league play against the AHSTW volleyball team.
 Many of those matches were lopsided affairs, but the Lady Vikes finally took a set from IKM-M two years ago, then forced a five-setter at Manning last September.
 On Tuesday night, Coach Kelsey Muxfeldt’s squad broke through, capping a 25-14, 25-19, 29-27 sweep of the Wolves with a stunning third-set comeback from down 24-19.
 AHSTW survived five straight set points, then two more at 24-25 and 25-26, before Madison Simonsen’s block gave the Lady Vikes a 27-26 lead. Three points later a Wolves’ error ended the match and AHSTW celebrated its 10th win of the young season, improving to 10-2 overall and 1-1 in the WIC. IKM-Manning dropped to 7-6 and 0-2, respectively.
 “We didn’t play very well against Underwood [on 0-3 loss] on Thursday, so for them to come out tonight and fight back, it’s good for their confidence,” Muxfeldt said of her team.
 AHSTW’s fourth-year head coach felt that the late comeback in set three was indicative of the Lady Vikes’ toughness this year. From the time they trailed 24-19 until the end, Kailey Jones, Kate Wise, Kinsey Scheffler and Simonsen all scored at the net and Katie Anzalone smacked a game-tying ace serve - her sixth of the night.
 As a team, AHSTW served 84 percent (63-of-75) with 18 aces - six by Anzalone, five by Wise and three for Paige Osweiler. Muxfeldt noted that the game plan was to use aggressive serves to take IKM-M out of its offense and slow down hitters Caitlin Muhlbauer and Gabrielle Cadwell.
 The Lady Vikes finished with a solid .350 team kill efficiency, getting 11 kills from Scheffler, six from Wise and five by Anzalone. They had eight attack errors, compared to 18 by IKM-Manning. The Wolves were led by eight kills each from Wegner and Cadwell and four more by Muhlbauer.

 
 

 

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