Charger volleyball hosted the Amy Schutter Invitational Tournament Saturday going 2-3, and finishing 4th out of 8 teams. Rock Creek finished first in the tournament.
“We got off to a great start against some good competition,” head coach Chris Smart said. I think we found out a lot about ourselves and some things we need to work on.
“We started off strong and won the first two games. We struggled in the third game, and by the fourth we were all just really tired, especially because of the hot gym,” senior Hadlee Diepenbrock said.
The team opened with wins over Mission Valley (25-6, 25-23) and McClouth (25-19, 25-15). For the last match of pool play, the Chargers lost to Centralia 18-25, 12-25.
In the finals, the Chargers lost to Rock Creek (16-25, 25-22, 19-25) and
Northeast Kansas (21-25, 26-24, 18-25).
Senior Lexi Barnes led the team in blocks with 9, and junior Kaci Meseke led in kills with 30. “We have a lot more people in our rotation this year, so the juniors get to step up and play varsity,” Meseke said.
Senior Annie Wright (74) led in both assists and serving aces (7). “I think I played pretty well. We have a lot of new faces, but I think we’ll do well once we get used to each other,” Wright said.
Diepenbrock said it’s always special to compete in a tournament named after former Charger coach Amy Schutter. “It means a lot. She had such an impact on volleyball especially at our school and was a great coach with a really unique style. It means a lot to honor her with this tournament.”
The Chargers competed at home Tuesday against Chapman and Riley County and compete again September 10 at Lyndon.
Pictured above: Junior Alexus Ford and senior Lexi Barnes block during the Amy Schutter Invitational Saturday. Barnes led the team in blocks. Photo by Hannah Seivers.
The Charger 
Leave a Reply