Blu-Jays get league victory

Thursday, September 8, 2011

ST. PAUL -- Pleasanton's volleyball team gained a victory over St. Paul in Three Rivers League play here Tuesday night but couldn't keep up their level of play in the following non-league matches.

The Blu-Jays defeated St. Paul, 25-18, 24-26, 25-18. They lost to Southern Coffey County, 25-2, 25-16, and Prairie View, 25-16, 25-16.

"Overall, I wasn't happy with our play on the night," Pleasanton head coach Danny Looney said. "But we did accomplish our main goal of getting the league win over St. Paul."

In the St. Paul match, Teal Baker had 7 kills and Lindsey Conn handed out 8 assists. Conn also had 6 aces and Pleasanton served 18 aces as a team.

"We put three good sets together," Looney said. "We did extremely well from the service line, having only three errors in the match."

The Jays were not ready to play the second match, according to Looney. He put in younger players when the starters played poorly in the first game, which is reflected in the score.

"I'm trying to make these girls understand that a lack of effort just does not cut it," Looney said. "They played a much better second set. But we are still struggling with chemistry and communication. Until we fix it, we are going to continue to play up and down."

Conn led with 4 kills, 5 digs and 4 blocks. As a team, the Jays went from 18 aces in the St. Paul match to just 1 in the SCC match.

Against Prairie View, a much larger school, the Blu-Jays competed better. Conn had 8 kills. Autumn Secrest handed out 5 kills and Lauren Baker served 4 aces. Karesa Lewis was credited with 11 digs.

"We played pretty solid but communication continues to to hurt us," Looney said.

Pleasanton plays a non-league match at Miami in Amoret, Mo., tonight. The next varsity outing after that will be September 15 at Bronaugh, Mo., in a triangular that includes Crest in a on-league match. Play there will begin at 5 p.m.