GARNETT — In what could be best described as a microcosm of their 2020 volleyball season, Iola High’s Fillies had an evening of highs, lows and plenty of in-between Tuesday.
Iola wrapped up the regular season by dropping a two-set heartbreaker to host Anderson County, then sweeping past Prairie View in straight sets.
“Now, we’ve gotta regroup and focus for Saturday,” Fillies head coach Amanda Strickler-Holman said afterward.
Iola (14-16) will serve as the host site for Saturday’s Class 4A Substate Tournament, and will be joined by Chanute, Fort Scott, Ottawa and Paola.
Strickler-Holman expects a competitive tournament, with no clear leader going in. (All five teams have between 14 and 20 wins on the season.)
“It’s very evenly matched,” she said. “It’s going to be fun all the way.”
She hopes the Fillies can take lessons from Tuesday into the weekend, in which Iola let a big lead slip out of its hands against the Bulldogs, then narrowly avoided a repeat against Prairie view.
Iola zipped to an 11-6 lead in the opening set against Anderson County, but a couple of missteps allowed the host squad to get back into the proceedings.
The Bulldogs clawed their way back to within 13-11, as the teams traded points down the stretch.
Iola held leads of 18-14 and 22-20, but Anderson County responded each time. The Bulldogs put together a late three-point run to lead 23-22, then closed out the 25-23 set win.
A deflated Iola squad fell behind 10-5 in the second set, and never got closer than within three points from there in a 25-15 defeat.
“You can’t let a team like Anderson County claw back in and get on a run, and that’s what happened,” Strickler-Holman said. “They finished aggressively.”
Becca Sprague led Iola with 10 kills, adding five assists and 11 digs. Jocelyn Erbert added four kills, while Veronica Agostini served up 12 assists and four digs. Hannah Gardner had nine digs. Lauryn Holloway had two kills, four digs and an ace. Jenna Curry had two kills and three digs.
RATHER than dwell on the missed opportunity, Iola responded favorably against the Buffalos, putting together a deft mixture of power from Sprague and Agostini and a nice service display from Aysha Houk to roll to a 25-15 win in the opening set.
And things were proceeding quite well in the second set, with Iola rolling to a 16-9 lead.
But, like Anderson County, Prairie View came storming back, outscoring the Fillies, 13-6, to knot the score at 22-22.
