Lady Vandals down EAWR to win opener

Junior RaChelle Leiken had a nice introduction to Lady Vandals volleyball. On the first point of Tuesday night’s South Central Conference match, senior Haley Wollerman set the ball to Leiken, a transfer student from Oregon, who promptly dropped an authoritative kill in between two East Alton-Wood River players. Vandalia would continue on from there, using high-flying leaps and powerful kills throughout the match to beat the Lady Oilers, 25-10, 25-19. ‘The initial pre-game jitters needed to get out of our system,’ said coach Allison Brown. ‘But overall, we played well.’ Brown, however, also noted that Tuesday’s effort was only a small indication of what is likely to come. She is very excited about the potential that comes with having Leiken and junior Sierah Ruffner playing in the front row. On several occasions, both players rose high above the net to score kills that brought a collective cheer from the crowd. Combined, the duo had 15 kills during the game. ‘They are going to be the two dominant middles in the conference, if not the area,’ Brown said. Add Wollerman – who assisted on 13 of those scores – to make a trifecta, and the Lady Vandals should be looking at a very strong season. ‘Haley really works with her hitters, as far as where they want (sets) and how high they want them,’ Brown said. ‘That’s what makes her so influential on this team. ‘She’s a strong competitor, and wants to compete every night.’ After Leiken’s initial strike, the team’s traded serves before she went to the line and helped the team earn the next three points. After EAWR broke the serve twice, Vandalia got it right back without much damage, and junior Shelby Foster had two aces in six serves that allowed the Lady Vandals to take a 12-3 lead. The score would stay fairly consistent throughout the rest of the set, until sophomore Megan Godoyo took over the serve, with the Lady Vandals leading, 21-10. EAWR committed two attack errors, sophomore Kate Shields earned a block and Godoyo and junior Austyn Krueger had kills on the final two points of the set. ‘It shows potential of what it’s going to be,’ Brown said of the offense. ‘I mean that in a way that I know we can play better.’ The Lady Oilers held their only lead at the start of the second set, briefly taking a 2-1 advantage. Wollerman, however, served the Lady Vandals ahead, 7-2, but after that, Vandalia had trouble putting EAWR away like it had in the first set. The Lady Oilers would get back within one at 15-14 and later closed the gap to 21-18, but back-to-back well-placed kills by Ruffner and Leiken broke EAWR’s spirit at 23-18. Freshman Alexandria Sasse would serve two more times, and Vandalia would win the match on an attack error. One area of improvement for the Lady Vandals will be in blocking. The team had just two – one each for Shields and Kreuger – and Brown said some of that came from a new defense and some of that came from wanting to be on offense. ‘We weren’t really watching,’ she said. ‘We wanted to hit, hit, hit, but blocking is something we are going to have to work on.’ Box VHS 25, EAWR 10 VHS 25, EAWR 19 Kills: Leiken, 8; Ruffner, 7; Godoyo, 2; Kreuger, 2; Wollerman, 2; Shields, 1. Aces: Foster, 2; Godoyo, 1; Leiken, 1; Wollerman, 1. Blocks: Krueger, 1; Shields, 1. Assists: Wollerman, 15; Shields, 1. Record: 1-0 (1-0 SCC) JV: Vandalia won, 25-5, 25-10 Freshman: Vandalia won, 25-2, 25-10

Vandalia junior Sierah Ruffner spikes the ball after a set from senior Haley Wollerman (8) during the Lady Vandals’ win on Tuesday.

Vandalia junior transfer RaChelle Leiken gets high in the air for a kill during her first game with the Lady Vandals on Tuesday.