JH volleyball sweeps Bulldogs, falls to Oskaloosa

The Jackson Heights High School varsity volleyball team kicked off its fall 2016 season by splitting a pair of matches in a home triangular on Tuesday.

The Lady Cobras opened the evening and the season with a straight-sets victory over McLouth but were unable to sustain the momentum later in the evening, falling in straight sets to Oskaloosa. Head Coach Denise Visocsky — taking over the team after an eight-year run at Royal Valley — said the team was ready for action.

“It’s nice to finally get to play, because sometimes in practice, it’s really hard to see what you need to work on,” Visocsky said.

In the first match of the evening, the Lady Cobras easily took down the McLouth Bulldogs in the first set, 25-14, but struggled through a second-set 25-22 win that Visocsky said was “a little sluggish.”

“After they got the first one done, I think they were a little nervous,” she said. “Sometimes it’s hard to play that first game of the season at home, as opposed to on the road. But I was pleased with how they played.”

Later, the Lady Cobras fell short against an Oskaloosa Bears team that Visocsky said was “more experienced,” taking straight-set 25-16 and 25-19 wins against JHHS.

“We just took a while to get going against Oskaloosa,” she said. “Once we did, we started playing a lot better. But it was just too late for us.”

Visocsky cited the work of juniors Abby Williams and Shelby Zule and freshman Kylie Dohl in leading the team during Tuesday’s play.

“All three of them made some key decisions and stepped up quite a bit,” Visocsky said. “Abby was really aggressive at the net and did a great job of serving.”

The Cobras’ junior varsity team fared better on the evening, opening their season with a straight-sets win over McLouth and later taking down Oskaloosa in three sets.

Next Tuesday, the Lady Cobras will hit the road to Pleasant Ridge, where they and the Rams will participate in a varsity and junior varsity triangular match with the Valley Falls Dragons. Visocsky said her team will have to be “a little more aggressive at the net” in those and upcoming matches.

“We’re going to have to focus on being more aggressive and playing to our strengths,” she said. “I think we did that late against Oskaloosa, and we’re going to be a lot better off if we can start doing that from the get-go.”

Scoring

Varsity:

Jackson Heights def. McLouth, 25-14, 25-22

Oskaloosa def. McLouth, 25-22, 25-14

Oskaloosa def. Jackson Heights, 25-16, 25-19

Junior varsity:

Jackson Heights def. McLouth, 25-20, 25-11

Oskaloosa def. McLouth, 25-22, 19-25, 15-2

Jackson Heights def. Oskaloosa, 22-25, 25-19, 15-12