Yuma High School’s volleyball team is going to keep moving forward after a pair of difficult losses last week.
The Outlaws were 3-2 heading into this past Tuesday’s home match against the Chase County Longhorns. They ended up dropping to 3-3 with a four-set loss to the girls from Imperial.
They have a full week off before playing at Akron on September 17 in their Lower Platte Activities Association opener.
“To keep moving forward and improve upon what we already have, we just need to make sure we are still having fun and remember what our goals are,” coach Jamie Nighswonger said. “Take care of our teammates and keep working hard. We have a lot of season left, so we can’t give up now.”
The Outlaws were very competitive in a 3-1 loss at Sidney, Nebraska, earlier last week. They could have taken a 2-0 lead, but let the first set slip away 23-25 before winning the second 25-21. The third set was back and forth until the Red Raiders pulled out a 25-23 win, then going on to claim the fourth set 25-18.
Berkley Nighswonger had eight kills, Alina Moran seven, Bailey Nighswonger six, Lauren Gonzales five, Taryn Sheffield five, and Aubrey Black two. Black led in setting assists with 24. The Outlaws were 88.9 percent at the service line. Black was 17-20 with one ace, Moran 14-15 with one ace, Sheffield 11-12 with one ace, Bailey Nighswonger 11-14 with one ace, Chloe Smith 8-8 with one ace, Carolina Ross 8-8, Gonzales 7-9 with two aces, and Berkley Nighswonger 4-4.
The Outlaws made their 2024 home debut last Friday in The Pit against the Pine Bluffs (WY) Hornets. The first two sets had a lot of momentum swings, but Yuma pulled out both by identical 25-23 scores.
However, the Hornets dominated the third set, beating Yuma 14-25, and it continued from there as the Outlaws dropped the final two sets 15-25, 9-15 to fall in five.
“Friday was a tough one, and so was Tuesday night against Sidney,” Nighswonger said. “Both games that we could have won, but I’m proud of the girls for not quitting and just continuing to battle it out. The two sets that we won on Friday night were really close and it was a battle to pull those out, so I think it was just a series of some mental mistakes, some miscommunication, and the ball just not falling our way to end up losing the last three sets.”
Yuma spread out the net attack again as Berkley Nighswonger had eight, Moran seven, Gonzales six, Sheffield four, Black three, Bailey Nighswonger two, and Ross one. Black had 19 assists, and Bailey Nighswonger, Sheffield, Berkley Nighswonger and Ross also had assists.
The Outlaws served 80.9 percent. Bailey Nighswonger was 17-20 with five aces, Sheffield 14-17 with one ace, Mroan 14-16 with two aces, Berkley Nighswonger 7-8, Ross 6-7 with two aces, Gonzales 5-6, Black 5-8, and Smith 4-7.
Consistency has been a common theme with the Outlaws through their five five matches.
“Consistency was definitely an issue, but such is the game of volleyball,” Nighswonger said. “Volleyball is a game of ups and downs, and of momentum swings, and the more you can control that, the more successful you can be. We have to just do a better job of weathering the storm, so to speak, so that the other team doesn’t go on long runs to give us a big hole to dig out of.”