The Pit at Yuma High School will be hosting plenty of volleyball action during the first two weeks of October.
The Outlaws began a five-match homestand on, October 2, with an impressive three-set win over then-No. 10 Burlington. (They played at 1A No. 1 Merino this past Tuesday.) It will continue Tuesday when Haxtun comes visiting. The Outlaws also will host Wiggins, Byers and Sedgwick County during the stretch.
“We play Burlington on Thursday night for our Pink Out match,” coach Jamie Nighswonger said. “They are currently ranked No. 10 in 2A, so they will be tough also.”
Yuma had a nice run last weekend, winning three of four matches to improve to 5-9 overall. (The Outlaws now have won four of their past six, sitting at 6-10 and moving up to No. 31 in the CHSAA 2A Selection & Seeding Index.
It began last Friday with an exciting five-set home win over the Brush Beetdiggers.
The first set was closely contested, with Brush pulling out a 25-23 win. However, the Outlaws responded with back-to-back strong sets, winning 25-19 and 25-10.
Then the match turned into a marathon with a fourth set that went well into extra points. Neither could put it away until Brush finally rattled off consecutive points to pull out a wild 33-31 win.
Yuma did not fold, though, after missing a chance to close out the match, as the Outlaws took care of business in the fifth set with a 15-10 win.
“We had a tough loss against Caliche (last Tuesday in five sets), but the girls played hard and didn’t quit,” Nighswonger said. “We had a really tough practice the next day to refocus us on our goals, and have been doing pretty well since then. Brush was a huge win, especially in five after losing the fourth set 33-31.”
Berkley Nighswonger had 10 kills, Lauren Gonzales eight, Bryar Chismer six, Taryn Sheffield five, Lindsey Hermosillo five, Novalee Schuetz four, and Bailey Nighswonger three. Bailey Nighswonger recorded 19 setting assists, and Aubrey Black nine. Defense at the net was key in the win as Gonzales was in on eight blocks and Schuetz seven.
Serving was strong for a long match, coming in at 92.4 percent. Bailey Nighswonger was 27-29 with three aces, Berkley Nighswonger 22-23, Sheffield 18-18 with one ace, Black 18-19 with two aces, Gonzales 12-13, Carolina Ross 6-8 and Hermosillo 6-7.
The Outlaws traveled west on Saturday for the Akron Tournament. They won two of three matches while claiming third place.
They opened with a 25-19, 25-13 win over Stratton. Berkley Nighswonger was 9-11 serving with three aces, Black 9-9 with one ace, Sheffield 9-9, Bailey Nighswonger 8-9, Gonzales 6-6, and Hermosillo 4-15 with one ace. Berkley Nighswonger had six kills, Hermosillo five, and Sheffield, Gonzales and Bailey Nighswonger four each. Black had 10 assists, and Bailey Nighswonger eight.
Yuma ran into a salty Holyoke squad in the next match, losing in two sets, 21-25, 15-25. Berkley Nighswonger was 10-10 serving with two aces, Bailey Nighswonger 9-9 with two aces, Gonzales 5-5 with an ace, Sheffield 5-5 with an ace, Black 4-5 with one ace, and Hermosillo 3-3. Hermosillo had four kills, Berkley Nighswonger three, and Sheffield and Nighswonger two each. Bailey Nighswonger had four assists, and Berkley Nighswonger, Schuetz and Black two each.
Going 1-1 in pool play put the Outlaws in the third-place match against Otis. The neighbors battled back and forth, but Yuma came out on top in three sets, 17-25, 25-18, 15-10.
Yuma served 95 percent. Sheffield was 14-14 with two aces, Bailey Nighswonger 11-12 with one ace, Berkley Nighswonger 11-12 with one ace, Gonzales 9-10, Black 6-6 and Hermosillo 3-3. Berkley Nighswonger had eight kills, Sheffield six, Gonzales five, Schuetz three, Hermosillo two, and Bailey Nighswonger and Black one each. Bailey Nighswonger led in assists with 12, and Black had four.
“Akron was a great tournament for us,” Nighswonger said. “The girls played awesome against Stratton, having a great start to the game for the first time in a long time. Holyoke is really good, but even losing that match, I feel like the girls did pretty well. And beating Otis was a great way to finish the day and the tournament, giving us a third place finish.”