Eagle volleyball take care of business against Vikings

PALOUSE - The St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse Eagles had a first meeting match-up against Garfield-Palouse Vikings, Tuesday, Sept. 19.

In the game, the Vikings jumped out to a quick 1-0 set lead, capitalizing on mistakes from the Eagles, which led to the lead.

After the first set, SJEL had time to regroup, and formulate their plan of attack against the Vikings.

The Eagles would win the game in four sets, keeping them undefeated in conference play heading into their clash with Oakesdale.

The first set of the game against the Vikings had GAR-PAL up 4-0 quickly. The Eagles would respond with a four point run of their own to tie the game. The game then would tie at six, before the Vikings took the 12-8 lead.

After a timeout, the Vikings would lead 21-18, before taking the set 25-23.

In the game, Elena Flansburg would lead the way for the Vikings with eight assists. Clare Bowechop had six kills and five digs, while Sam Pfaff also had five digs for the Vikings.

The second set on the day saw SJEL make another four point run, before pushing their lead to 10-5 early. After a timeout from the Vikings, Kaitlyn Hough would use a huge serving run to push the lead to 21-9 for the Eagles. SJEL would win the set 25-11, evening the set score to one.

"She is leading the team and pushing every day at practice and in games to be a great role model for her teammates," SJEL head coach Jenn Johnson said about the play of Hough.

The third set was where the Eagles jumped on the Vikings early. The would lead 9-3 before expanding their lead to 16-10. After a timeout, the Eagles would pull away, winning 25-16.

In the fourth set, SJEL used their strengths to their advantage. They would serve to their strong spots, and used good passing to set up their power hitters to win the fourth set 25-14, taking the overall victory against GAR-PAL.

"The girls bounced back well in sets 2, 3, and four. They played well together and stopped making errors. We always remind ourselves that if we can't play for ourselves, we play for each other, we are a family," Johnson said.

For the Eagles, Hough led the way with nine aces, 13 kills, and 11 digs. Emery Molina also had 12 kills and three blocks, and setter Julia Guske had 26 assists.