Wabasha-Kellogg volleyball takes first loss of the conference

By Sophie Horgan | Editor
WABASHA — A first loss in their conference play this season, the Wabasha-Kellogg fell in four sets to Plainview-Elgin-Millville at home on Thursday, Sept. 10.
Falcon Head Volleyball Coach Alliyah Mayhew noted that both teams were suffering major losses to their teams, with PEM missing their starting setter and WK without two of their captains—a starting middle and outside hitter. Jenny Hill, the injured outside, was key player who played all the way around the full game and led in kills the year prior; she will be out of sports for the remainder of the year with a torn ACL. Hailey Arens, who starred in the middle, is expected to make a full recovery and be back on the court in a couple of weeks, they hope by the end of September.
These missing players forced considerable adjustments to the Falcons’ lineup organization for the matchup against PEM. Most notably, the move of their libero—who Mayhew asserts as arguably the best libero in the Three Rivers conference—to the outside, replacing her with a junior who had previously only played three rotations. Two sophomores, Addison Jungwirth and Ali Johnson, also rose to the occasion and stepped into major defense roles—Johnson having only just moved up to varsity the Tuesday prior to the game against PEM. Mayhew also clarified that they had defeated PEM in a tournament just a few weeks earlier.—a 2-1 win when both teams were healthy.
As far as their game on the 10th, Kylee Metcalf, Lucy Traun, and Aleaya Becker were standout players against the Bulldogs.
Metcalf, taking on an unfamiliar position, managed 12 successful serves—2 of which were aces—along with 7 kills and 1.5 blocks.
Traun, who filled Metcalf’s shoes as the libero, made 31 digs and had a near-perfect serving record for the match, only slipping up on 1 out of her 18 attempted serves.
Becker was strong on offense, leading in kills at 9 total, and matching with Alaina McCann at 2 blocks. Just behind her was Piper Wobbe with 8 kills and 1.5 blocks.
Other highlights include Addison Jungwirth, who maintained a perfect serving record of 13/13 in the match, and setter Addison Quade who succeeded 27 set assists and 7 kills.
Since their matchup against PEM, Metcalf has returned to the libero position, leaving Anna Quade to fill Jenny Hill’s spot on the outside and, according to Coach Mayhew, she is proving herself well.