Some of the names change from year to year, but the air-tight defense always remains the same for the Warner volleyball program.
That defense was on display as the second-rated Monarchs defeated Aberdeen Christian 25-14, 25-13, 25-14 in Lake Region Conference volleyball in front of a large crowd at the Christian School Gym Thursday night.
“We talked a lot, we’re going to have offensive inconsistencies with so many young ones out there, but we said we have to have good defense,” said Warner coach Kari Jung. “I have been blessed with some very good athletes, and they react and play the ball and get after it. So, it’s been a fun start.”
That defense prevented numerous points for the Knights as Warner players consistently found ways to keep balls from hitting the floor.
“We work on defense a lot,” said Warner’s Jaycee Jung, who led the Monarchs with 13 digs.
While Warner’s defense kept the Knights off stride, Christian coach Sally Gaul said her players need to search for better spots to hit the ball.
“They’re a scrappy team,” Gaul said of the Monarchs. “I just think we can play a little bit smarter and put the ball where they aren’t.”
Warner’s defensive attention was focused on shutting down Ari Johnson, and they were able to hold the standout hitter in check for the most part.
“We did talk about her, and having to get a block up on her,” Coach Jung said. “We were a little late a few times, but overall, I was happy with our block tonight.”
With Johnson bottled up, Sophia Eichler took advantage and led the Knights with five kills.
“My mindset is kind of like hit it as hard as I can, I guess,” Eichler said. “And just come out aggressive, calling for the ball and being ready to hit all the time, and just a lot of movement.”
Gaul was impressed with Eichler’s performance on both sides of the net.
“This is her first time on the right side and I think she did an awesome job,” Gaul said. “She puts up a nice big block for the outside, and she took some really great swings.”
Coach Jung said the Knights were a formidable foe.
“Aberdeen Christian, I think they’ve got some very good potential to be a solid team this whole season,” she said.
Jung said the Knights showed her team a few things it needs to work on.
“They sure helped us see where we’re going to have to work to improve and work on certain things on defense, yet,” Jung said. “I was just really happy with how we stayed aggressive, even if we were out of system.”
Warner, which built an early lead in every set, came out serving aggressively from the service line. The Monarchs racked up eight aces and kept the Knights on their heels the entire evening.
“They do have a really good serve,” Gaul said, “and honestly we do have some really great passers, so I’m really excited to see what they can come up with here in the next couple games.”
In fact, Gaul is ready to take matters into her own hands, literally.
The former standout player at Northern State, plans to put the Knights through their paces in practice.
“I think we’re definitely going to work on some passing, and I’m going to serve at them, make the serving a little tougher,” Gaul said. “I’m going to go at them and I’m going to make them keep it simple. They’re not going to freak out. We’re just going to get back to the roots of volleyball, serving and passing.”
That will come after an eventful weekend for the first-year Christian coach, who is getting married on Saturday.
Jaycee Jung finished with a solid all-round match for the Monarchs, collecting seven kills in addition to a few set assists as well as diving digs.
“She’s a really good backrow player,” Coach Jung said. “She gets frustrated sometimes when she has a few hitting errors, but she does so many other things, so she’s so valuable.”
The sophomore used different types of shots to record her kills, both cross court and down the line. She said her hitting depends on a couple of variables.
“It just depends on what’s open or how the ball is set,” Jung said.
While Warner is currently second in the Class B poll, Jaycee Jung said the players don’t pay attention to that.
“We just focus on the opponent,” she said, “and go week by week.”
So far, so good for the Monarchs.
“I was pretty happy. I had a few kids who were a little nervous coming in, like the Libero being a freshman,” Coach Jung said. “You could tell they were nervous, but they settled in pretty quick, and so I was really happy about it.”
The Knights will host Waverly-South Shore on Tuesday.
Aberdeen Christian stats were not available.
Serving: Warner 66-73 8 aces (Miah Leihdolt 22-24 3 aces, Courtney Leidholt 10-11 2 aces, Tatum Hanson 16-16 2 aces).
Hitting: Warner 80-98 37 kills (MaKenna Leidholt 18-19 11 kills, Courtney Leidholt 21-22 9 kills, Jaycee Jung 19-25 7 kills).
Setting: Warner 100-100 34 assists (Reagan Wood 34-34 16 assists, Hanson 46-46 13 assists).
Digs: Warner 53 (Jung 13, Miah Leidholt 8).
Blocks: Warner 10 assists.
Records: Warner 1-0; Aberdeen Christian 0-1.
