A slow start at Saturday’s South Hardin tournament in Eldora didn’t stop the Greene County volleyball team from having a strong finish. Coach Chris Heisterkamp’s Rams dropped its first two matches, but rallied to win its last three and come out on top of the consolation bracket. Pool play began with a 12-21, 17-21 loss to the Class 2A number eight host team, followed by a loss to Central City by scores of 12-21, 21-16, 9-15. After that, pool play ended with a 21-12, 21-8 win vs. West Central Valley (Stuart), followed by a pair of consolation bracket victories. First came a 21-18, 19-21, 15-13 win against Grandview Christian (Des Moines), and a win over Boone by scores of 15-21, 21-14, 15-13, finished off the day. For the season, the Rams are 8-6 in matches and 22-18 in sets.

Kaylee Stalder led the team in kills with 43 for the day. Emma Shipley had 21 kills with 10 from Payton Kokenge, nine by Lila Osterson, four for Natalee Baugh, and three for Ella Shipley. Graci Cooklin was the digs leader for the Rams with 25, followed by 18 from Emma Ewalt, 13 for Hailey Carman, 12 from Stalder, and 11 by Violet Reedy. Emma Shipley and Stalder were the blocks leaders for the team with eight apiece. Kokenge had six blocks with three by Reedy and two for Ella Shipley.

Coach Heisterkamp reports the team was successful on 92% of its serves for the 13 sets. She added, “Early on, we were held back by a few too many unforced errors, but then we got into rythym, and had a very strong finish at the end of the day. Our players kept their composure throughout some intense action in bracket play and came away with a couple of hard-fought wins.”

The Rams have two Heart of Iowa Activities Conference road matches this week. A trip to Monroe vs. PCM is first up on Tuesday, followed by a Thursday match at Jewell vs. South Hamilton.