After many close losses, including one against Thayer Central, Fairbury finally earned their first win over Fort Calhoun on Thursday. Photo by J. Johnson
Lady Jeffs Volleyball went 1-1 in two games held in Malcolm on Thursday, September 6. In best-of-3 matches, Fairbury lost to Centennial (0-2) and won against Fort Calhoun (2-0).
Their victory against Fort Calhoun accounted for the Lady Jeffs’ first win of the season. In two sets (25-23, 25-21), the team recorded 28 kills, 6 blocks, and 16 digs. Leading in these categories respectively were Sara Huss ’20 (9), Jessa Eden ’19 (4), and Joy Ondrak ’19 and Leah Mach ’21 (both 4). Huss saw definite differences in how this season’s team played compared to the year prior.
“I think that something my team [did] that stood out overall was just simply never giving up, and battling through some of the struggles we were facing in that game,” Huss said. “A year ago, this same team wouldn’t of done that so it’s amazing to see how much we have grown.”
In two losing sets, (18-25, 23-25) against Centennial, the Lady Jeffs had 24 kills, 6 blocks, and 20 digs. Huss and Mikasa Lierman ’19 each accounted for 6 kills and Eden once again led the team in blocks with 5. Junior Izze Schwab expects her team to continue to develop their play.
“We definitely need to work on playing our game,” Schwab said. “We know the level of play that we are capable of competing on, and we need to consistently play with this intensity. I think all this season we have worked hard on the small skills. Our team really puts together a great game, but sometimes just critiquing the small things will win you that game and I think that’s what we did.”
After many close sets that led to lost matches early on in the season, the Lady Jeffs pushed through and earned their first win on Thursday. With the initial victory out of the way, they hope to come out on top in future close games. For Huss, it felt like the win was inevitable.
“It felt really great to earn our first win of the season,” Huss said. “We have been so close in some of our first matches so it was nice to finally put together a whole match to clinch the win.”
The Lady Jeffs traveled to Malcolm once again on Saturday for a tournament.
FHS X-Ray 
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