ELGIN — Thursday night was opening night for the cast of this year’s Wolfpack volleyball teams and the stars shined brightly.
Opening the season at home against Lutheran High Northeast, EPPJ dropped the first set, then swept the next three to win 24-26, 25-23, 25-19 and 25-18.
Third-year Wolfpack Coach Jordynn Luettel found a lot to like about her team’s first victory of the season. “We are a very balanced team, very balanced with our attackers,” she said immediately after the game. “The other team doesn’t know where we’re gonna go, who’s gonna get the ball. They can’t focus in on any of our hitters because we have so many that can put the ball down.”
After dropping the first set, EPPJ slowly, methodically, began to pull away.
Good things seemed to happen for the Wolfpack when senior reserve Tessa Barlow stepped to the service line. LHNE struggled to get into their attack and the Wolfpack’s front row of Camry Kittelson, Kayton Zwingman and Braelyn Martinsen took advantage. Three service points by Barlow, the last coming on an ace serve gave EPPJ a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the set. An ace tip by Mady Kurpgeweit closed out the set.
In Set #3, the Wolfpack went ahead early and the lead ranged from four to as many as seven points. The Eagles fought back behind the net play of Lexie Dinkel and the serving of Olivia Eckert to cut EPPJ’s lead to 20 to 16. EPPJ then closed out the set as Zwingman registered two kills.
Up two sets to one, EPPJ took control as Martinsen registered back-to-back kills to give the Wolfpack a 16 to 10 lead.
The lead grew to five points, 21 to 16, then freshman Jael Lammers ignited a final run for the Wolfpack. Kills by Lammers, Martinsen and, on match point, by Kittelson ended the match.
“What’s so nice about this team (Wolfpack) is each person has a specific role and they understand that,” Luettel said. “We were moving and shifting well. We covered each other’s backs good. There’s still some room for improvement, but we covered very well.”
Luettel said Brooke Kinney had an excellent night covering hitters. She also lauded the play of Gentry Zwingman and Lammers.
…..see more at this week’s Elgin Review.
