Volleyball team off to 3-0 start in non-league play

The high powered Cascade Kodiak volleyball team has started the season 3-0 with a couple victories over two private school teams. Cascade opened the season with solid win at Naches Valley. 

Cascade got off to great start winning the first two sets, 25-14, 25-16. But the team struggled in the third set, losing 26-24. 

“We became undisciplined and lacked the instinct to finish. We made some passing errors in set three which caused us the loss,” said Head Coach Marni McMahon. 

Cascade rallied to win the final set and the match, 25-20. McMahon said this was the first time they ran a 6-2 offense with Megan Evans and Abby Brown setting. 

“It will take some time for our setters to get comfortable running the fast game we want to run but they are getting there,” McMahon said. “Serve-Receive was a big issue throughout the night. We are a better passing team than the stats show. We need to work on our transition. It was a major focus in practice this week. Our serving was very good and often kept them from getting in system. Naches is a good team which works really hard. They challenged us.”

Senior Makena Ala’ilima-Daley had 17 kills and 5 aces. Senior Analia Vasquez had 15 kills and 4 aces. Evans had 11 kills, 3 aces and 15 assists. Brown had 26 assists. Maddie Schiefelbein had 10 digs. Baelee Pearson had 9 digs and Kaitlyn Craig, 5 aces. 

Cascade played private schools Charles Wright and Annie Wright at Chelan last Saturday. The Kodiaks beat Charles Wright 25-15, 25-17, 25-17 and beat Annie Wright 25-11, 25-12 and 25-14. 

“These teams weren’t as challenging as I’d hoped but we were still able to focus on the things we worked on in practice all week. Ashley Ross was aggressive at the net. She was working hard to get on and off- establishing position to hit. She’s got a strong swing. Its been a emphasis to get her the ball more,” McMahon said. 

McMahon said Abby Brown took a big step in the setting department. 

“She is lowering her tempos and locating ball position must better than the Naches match,” she said of Brown. “Makena and Analia continue to hold this team accountable and show strong leadership on the court. Annie Wright and Charles Wright had a hard time stopping their swings.”

Daley had 23 killes, 4 aces and 2 blocks. Vasquez had 26 kills and 4 aces. Brown had 72 assists. Ross had 11 kills, 3 blocks and 4 aces. 

“Maddie Schiefelbein showed a lot of promise at the libero position. She had 17 digs and is starting to show a strong presence in the back row,” McMahon said. 

Next up is the 3A/4A Sundome Tourney this Saturday. McMahon said their number one goal is to get to the championship match. On Monday, the team hosts West Seattle. 

Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.