By Josh Staloch
Correspondent
GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Preble girls’ volleyball team picked up a road victory Tuesday, March 16, with a straight-set, 25-5, 25-14, 25-9 performance against the Green Bay East Red Devils.
“Usually, when we play East, it’s a battle,” said Preble head coach Brian Van Den Plas. “We played them twice last season, and it went five sets both times. Fortunately, tonight, we came in and passed the ball well, our hitters hit the ball well and we put East in some tough spots.”
In the opening game, the Hornets jumped out to an 8-0 lead thanks to some big kills from Hannah Vlies and on-target serving from Emma Smith.
At 10-1, Preble’s Alivia Jeanquart got into position to set Vlies up for another kill that prompted a Red Devils timeout.
East came out of the break with more intensity but couldn’t stop the Preble onslaught.
The first frame ended later with the Hornets getting a block from Ashley Raduenz.
“It’s been a challenge,” said East head coach Heidi Kieffer. “We haven’t touched a volleyball in a year and a half. I’m proud of the girls. They’ve been working hard, and it’s a big deal for us, our seniors, in particular, to get a season in. We’re trying to make it as memorable and as fun as possible. If we get a couple of wins along the way, great. I’m enjoying the season with a fantastic group.”
Early in the second set, it looked like East was going to give the Hornets a run for their money.
Up 2-1, the Red Devils were hitting the ball much better than they had in the first frame and were doing a better job of making the visiting team scramble to get into position.
But both teams struggled in the second set with mishits and bad serves.
Then, with Preble leading 12-11, Kiara Kuhn gave the Hornets the spark they needed with a kill shot that sparked her team to a 12-3 run to put the second game away.
“I’m proud of our girls,” said Van Den Plas, whose team moved to 4-2 on the season. “I also want to give credit to Heidi – she’s always got a fundamentally sound team. Tonight was our night, and we’ll take it, but there’s a lot to work on.”