AGWSR aces trump Royals in sweep

ACKLEY – The AGWSR volleyball team served up a swift start to the postseason with a sweep of Colo-NESCO at AGWSR High School on Monday, Oct. 19.

The Cougars won 25-13, 25-14, 25-8. AGWSR (9-16) advanced in Class 1A Region 3 and hosted Paton-Churdan (10-9) in Ackley on Wednesday, Oct. 21. The winner of that game plays again on Monday, Oct. 26 in a regional semifinal, likely against top-seeded Janesville.

AGWSR landed 15 of their 74 serves for aces on Monday, including seven aces for Alayna Hunt in a massive third-set run that put the Cougars on the fast track to the regional quarterfinals.

Taylor Sperfslage had four aces and Tessa Sperfslage and Natalie Gerstein contributed two aces each.

"We're really confident with our serving," Taylor Sperfslage said. "Our servers are pretty strong and their serve receive wasn't."

Since their last game in a four-set loss to Aplington-Parkersburg, the Cougars have spent time in practice on serving and serve receive, Sperfslage said, because AGWSR believes its postseason longevity depends on it.

"We've been working on being more consistent with our serves because we've been kind of streaky," AGWSR head coach Jill Smith said. "We were tremendous."

 The Cougars tucked away the first set behind a late 6-0 run that included two Gerstein aces and a couple kills from Alyssa Hames, extending what was a 15-10 lead into something the Royals couldn't catch.

Colo-NESCO came out better in the second set, battling to within 10-9 before another long AGWSR run in a 7-0 stretch that got contributions from Brynn Smith, Hames and Kuper on the block and Taylor Sperfslage swinging away from the outside.

"We passed well, and that allowed us to run our offense pretty effectively," Jill Smith said. "Once we got into our rhythm in the second and third set, we were firing on all cylinders."

Brynn Smith led AGWSR's attack with 10 kills and added 10 digs to tie with libero Haileigh Homeyer for the team lead in that category. Taylor Sperfslage contributed seven kills, MaKenna Kuper added six kills and a team-leading two blocks.

"This team has a lot of potential," Jill Smith said. "It's just learning how to finish and learning how to win. We're working to make that turn, and we finished the third set strong tonight and got better as the match went on."

The Cougars hope to keep marching on with the experience that came from a tough schedule this fall.

"We feel like we're prepared, that we've seen it all," Sperfslage said. "It's a completely new season and we're just using that confidence to push as hard as we can."

AGWSR 25-25-25

Colo-NESCO 13-14-8

AGWSR 9-16; Colo-NESCO 2-21 (final). Kills­: Brynn Smith 10, Taylor Sperfslage 7, MaKenna Kuper 6, Alyssa Hames 3, Josie Winterberg, Lila Vaughn. Assists: Natalie Gerstein 15, Winterberg 10. Digs: Haileigh Homeyer 10, Smith 10, Alayna Hunt 5, Tay. Sperfslage 3, Tes. Sperfslage 3, Gerstein 2, Kuper, Hames, Winterberg. Blocks: Kuper 2, Hames. Serving: Hunt 20-20, 7 aces; Tay. Sperfslage 10-11, 4 aces; Tes. Sperfslage 12-13, 2 aces; Gerstein 14-14, 2 aces; Smith 8-11; Homeyer 4-5.