Facing unbeaten North Fulton Wednesday night, West Prairie volleyball coach Drew Snyder knew the challenge awaiting his team.
“We knew going in that it was going to be a grind, no matter what we did,” he said.
But even he did not know how much of a grind it ended up being.
The Cyclones remained unbeaten at home, but the visiting Wildcats scratched and clawed all evening before West Prairie notched a 32-30, 25-18 victory.
West Prairie improved to 12-6, winning its seventh straight match.
North Fulton slipped to 6-1.
The Cyclones also improved to 6-0 on the home floor.
“We knew they were undefeated,” said West Prairie junior Payton McGrew. “And we wanted to ruin that. We are undefeated on our home court and we wanted to keep that (intact).”
West Prairie led 24-20 in set one, only to see the Wildcats pull even at 24-24.
North Fulton fought off three more set more points before taking a 28-27 lead. It was the Cyclones turn to fight off three set points.
A Wildcat service error knotted the match at 30-30. A North Fulton passing error followed before a Niah Zimmerman kill finally closed out the set for the host.
“That was crazy,” said McGrew. “And coming away with the win, that was wild.”
“That’s one of our goals, continuing high energy,” added junior teammate Ashlynn Kelley. “We’re all a huge family. All of us being there for each other and having that high energy.”
The Cyclones built a 10-point lead in set two before fight off a late North Fulton challenge to seal the victory.
“We knew we were going to have to push even harder in the second set than we did the first,” said Kelley. “But we were ready for it. We were ready to take them down.”
“We had to control our side of the net,” said McGrew.
“That’s pretty demoralizing to an opponent to lose a set like that,” said Snyder. “Then we got off to a really nice start (in set two). But credit to them for a strong push at the end.”
Stats for the Cyclones included the following: Assists – Josie Hodges 23 Kills – Niah Zimmerman 9, McGrew 8, Alyvia Barkley 4, Kelley and Madison Adams 3 each.
Digs – Barkley 11, Niah Zimmerman 7, McClure and Hodges 4 each Serving – Hodges 2 aces and 13 points scored, McClure –1 ace and 4 points scored, Lilly Sheffler – 5 points scored “Based on the film we watched, we knew we had the corners and sidelines (open),” said Snyder. “Ashlynn and Payton did a really nice job of hitting those corners.”
Snyder also noted key contributions from substitutions Lilly Sheffler and Kamara Zimmerman.
“It was a full team effort,” he said. “Quite honestly, that was one of the best games we’ve played all year in terms of being well-rounded.”
“There’s things we need to work on,” he added. “But I feel like we’re starting to put the pieces together. I’m really proud of the way they fought. They did a good job.”
“Games like that help turn us into better players,” said McGrew. “You’ve got to use that going forward. Matches like that help you in the long run.”
“I have a lot of respect for (North Fulton coach Julia McConkey),” said Snyder. “In the past, that program has struggled. But she’s done an outstanding job of building the program from the ground up.”
The Cyclones return to action on Sept. 22 at Elmwood.
The next home match for West Prairie will be Sept. 24 against Camp Point Central.
