The EPPJ junior high volleyball team captured another championship Saturday at the Summerland Tournament in Ewing.
In game one, they defeated Summerland B in straight sets: 25-17, 25-8.
Sara Bode led the servers with 5 aces. Chloe Henn, Kate Furstenau and Natalie Burenheide each served up 2. Kaitey Schumacher added 1.
On serve receive, Bode passed up 2 to the setter and Schumacher added 1.
Callie Heithoff dished out 9 set assists, and Furstenau added 1.
At the net, Henn and Bode led the attackers with 4 kills a piece. Camry Kittelson added 3 and Furstenau, 2. Schumacher and Kayton Zwingman each put down 1.
Defensively, Furstenau picked up 6 digs while Bode got a hand on 3. Heithoff added 2, Schumacher and Olivia Klein, 1 each.
In the second game, the team defeated Neligh-Oakdale in two: 25-16, 25-4.
Kittelson led from the serving line with 4 aces. Henn followed with 3. Furstenau added 2, and Heithoff, 1.
Henn passed up 3 to the setter from serve receive. Furstenau, Schumacher and Kittelson each added 1.
Heithoff put up 10 set assists, and Furstenau added 3. Schumacher and Burenheide each had 1 assist as well.
Henn led the attackers with 9 kills. Furstenau and Schumacher each put down 2. Bode, Heithoff and Zwingman added 1 a piece.
Burenheide recorded 1 ace block, while Furstenau defended well with 8 digs. Bode picked up 3, while Henn and Burenheide contributed to the effort with 2 each. Schumacher added 1 as well.
In the championship game, the Pack defeated Summerland A in two sets: 25-21, 26-24.
Kittelson served up 2 aces, while Zwingman, Schumacher and Bode added 1 a piece.
Henn led from serve receive with 6 good passes. Bode passed up 4. Furstenau and Kittelson each sent 2 the setters’ way, and Heithoff and Schumacher passed up 1 a piece.
Heithoff fed the attackers with 13 assists, and Furstenau put up 6. Schumacher and Kittelson each dished out 1.
Henn led the attack at the net with 14 kills. Kittelson put down 4. Heithoff, Schumacher and Furstenau were good for 2 each. Bode added 1.
Furstenau covered the floor well with 18 digs on defense. Bode picked up 5 and Heithoff, 4. Henn and Kittelson got a hand on 2 each.
The EPPJ coaches had words of praise for the team.
“We couldn’t be prouder of this bunch of girls. They played tough against a very scrappy Summerland team in the championship. Even though they were down for much of the game, they never gave up. It was fun to watch them battle. They are truly team players.”
The Summerland Tournament marked the conclusion of a successful season for the junior high Pack.
