Lady Trojans win back-to-back over county foes

By Kyle Troutman [email protected]

The Southwest volleyball team raised its win total to nine with recent victories over Purdy, Exeter and Hurley, bouncing back from a tough 5-set loss to Crane on Oct. 2.

Steve Voyak, Southwest volleyball coach, said the Lady Trojans (9-17-3) have seen the most improvement this season in their serve reception.

“We have served the ball well all season but our serve reception has improved dramatically,” said Voyak, who earned his 250th win this season against Wheaton on Sept. 28. “We still go through tough patches sometimes but compared to the last few years, it’s night and day.”

The Lady Trojans won two of the first three against Crane before dropping the final two. Senior Juliauna Sierra led Southwest with 26 digs, 17 receptions and 9 kills, while senior Lyric Bernard added 43 digs and 31 receptions.

Setter Laura Jean Henry had 26 assists and was 19-for-19 serving.

Against Exeter, junior Kaleigh Tull was 18-for-18 serving and added 10 kills, while senior Brooklynn Slye added 17 digs and 11 kills.

Against Purdy, junior Montana Skelton led the way with six kills, and the team combined to make 60 of 63 serves with 11 aces. For the season, Southwest serves at 91.1 percent with 203 aces.

Southwest played Hurley on Monday, earning a 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-15) win. The team travels to Galena Thursday before finishing the regular season against McAuley.

The No. 6 Lady Trojans will travel to Miller for the Class 2, District 11 tournament, facing no. 3 Marionville (17-7) in the quarterfinals at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 17