Trojans take it out on PCM

The Trojans said that’s prepared them for battle in the Heart of Iowa Conference, and they stepped up for a conference-opening sweep of PCM at West Marshall High School on Monday night.

West Marshall won, 25-23, 25-19, 25-16, for the team’s first win of the season, moving to 1-8 overall.

“We needed this,” West Marshall senior Lily Zahnd said. “We’ve played some hard competition to start the season, and I think tonight proved that our record doesn’t really matter, we’re still a good team.”

Zahnd had 11 kills to lead the Trojan attack, Avery Evertsen added nine kills and Amelia Ranson had four kills. Zahnd added nine assists and Natalie Nichols had a team-leading 19 assists. Rachel Randall picked up 17 digs and Reese Jensen had 14 digs and three ace serves.

T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER – West Marshall defenders Bella Borgos (19) and Kylee Schuler (3) try for the block against PCM’s Lillian Humpal (13) during Monday’s volleyball match in State Center.

The teams traded the lead throughout the first set. PCM was on the cusp at 23-21 but West Marshall scored the last four points, including a Zahnd kill and tandem block from Shelby Johnston and Avery Evertsen to win the set.

Evertsen had four blocks for the Trojans on Monday.

“I think we’ve got around six to eight quality hitters that, no matter who I have in there, they’re going to swing hard and put that ball down,” West Marshall head coach Buffi Honeck said. “And our blocking, I challenge people to find better blockers than what we have — when they’re on, they’re really on.”

West Marshall was locked in for the second set with a 14-0 run early on to take a 16-2 lead as Jensen put PCM on its heels.

The Trojans only missed two serves on Monday.

T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER – West Marshall senior outside hitter Amelia Ranson (7) hits over a PCM block during Monday’s volleyball match in State Center.

“That’s been our detriment in early games,” Honeck said. “Serving was really key tonight, and when you throw in some good passing and serve receive, it’s hard for us to not come out with this win tonight.”

The Mustangs still made it interesting in the second set, roaring back with their own lengthy 11-0 run, including three aces for PCM’s Tori Lindsay, getting within 22-18 of the Trojans.

“We just had to get the ball over,” Zahnd said. “It doesn’t have to be pretty all the time, just send it over. We were digging ourselves a hole there for a little bit.”

Once West Marshall got the sideout they were waiting for, Zahnd locked in with two kills for the last two points the home team needed.

That took the pressure off the Trojans for the third set, leading 12-6 early on and using an 8-1 run down the stretch to put the match out of reach.

“I was definitely nervous up there to start,” Zahnd said. “But once I got my first kill and heard the student section behind us, everyone was just so positive and energetic and it just felt awesome.”

Six of West Marshall’s eight losses to start the season came to schools in Class 4A.

“Those matches taught us that we shouldn’t give up when we go down,” Zahnd said. “Messing up is OK, it’s part of the score. We’ll still be able to get kills, we’ll be able to score.”

The Trojans are helped by an experience-loaded roster, with 13 seniors and four juniors on varsity.

“It’s a great mix of leadership,” Honeck said. “We’ve got a great group on the bench cheering on and being supportive, and the girls out there are playing all around, it’s a wonderful bunch of girls and seeing them develop over the last four years, I’m so proud of how their leadership has evolved.”

Zahnd said the Trojans hope to contend for the conference title by the end of the year. West Marshall was fourth last year and last year’s top two, Nevada and Roland-Story, are likely to be the teams to beat in the HOIAC once again.

“We took a step toward that tonight,” Zahnd said. “And we also just want to build a good connection, have a good team and stay positive — even if we lose, we can always be positive.”