Allen Community College had little trouble with visiting Coffeyville on the volleyball court Wednesday. The Red Devils won in straight sets ahead of what promises to be a tough schedule as the postseason nears.
Amid the pomp and circumstance surrounding Sophomore Night, and the expectation of a tough-as-nails postseason just ahead, Allen Community College?s volleyball team took care of business Wednesday.
The Red Devils controlled the match against visiting Coffeyville from the get-go, cruising to a 3-0 victory, 25-14, 25-14 and 25-15.
Quick starts in all three sets set the tone.
Allen turned a 4-3 lead into a 10-3 advantage in the first set, raced to 9-5 and 14-5 in Set 2, and 11-3 and 18-0 in the third.
Even so, head coach Maria Aikins wasn?t fully satisfied with the win.
?We really weren?t at our best,? she said. ?We weren?t as crisp as we could have been.?
Even with the quick starts, she noted, Allen had periodic lulls that allowed Coffeyville to string occasional runs together.
Freshman Alysa Ladson hammered the final point to finish off the first set.
Allen led 20-6 in the second before Coffeyville rattled off a 6-point run, prompting Aikins to call a timeout.
Ladson had another kill before ACC sophomore Josie Weers ended the second set with a kill.
The lead was 20-10 in the third set, as the teams went back-and-forth in the waning moments. A Red Raven return went long to end the set and match.
Ladson led the hitters with 12 kills, followed close behind by Patricia Mita?s 10. Weers and Chloe Curl added seven apiece. Isabella Simoine-Lagoa racked up 32 assists and two service aces. Audrey Peek also served up a pair of aces. Simione-Lagoa had two blocks.
Weers, one of five sophomores honored after the match, said Allen volleyball has set a new level of expectation since Aikins?s arrival as head coach prior to the 2023 season.
?Coming in with a lot of new girls last year, we didn?t know how it was going to be,? said Weers, who missed the 2023 campaign because of a knee injury.
The Le Roy native watched with joy as the Red Devils stormed into the Region VI playoffs before bowing out to eventual national champion Cowley County.
?We ended up meshing well together,? Weers said. ?We became a family. We work as a family and get the job done. We appreciate how everyone puts in 110% every day.?
Weers took advantage of her injury time to watch her teammates develop.
?It wasn?t frustrating for me, because I was happy to be a part of it,? she explained. ?It made me appreciate the little things. It made me realize why it?s important to be a good teammate as well as a player. I?m glad I was able to push through my injuries.?
Weers carries high hopes for Allen as the postseason nears.
?Everybody has downplayed Allen volleyball the past couple of years,? Weers said. ?This season we?ve really shown that even us small-town girls can go out there and make things happen.?
But before Allen can set its sights on the playoffs, there remains work to be done in the regular season. The Red Devils are in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Friday and Saturday for the Iowa Central Tournament, with the nation?s 10th ranked Iowa Central squad lurking. Others, such as Metropolitan (19-11) and Des Moines Area (29-12) also will be worthy opponents, Aikins said.
Scheduling that tournament was intentional, Aikins said.
?It?s good to play some very difficult matches before the postseason,? she said, noting the Region VI playoffs will feature Cowley, ranked No. 1 in the country, and Johnson County, which for much of the season was ranked right behind Cowley at No. 2.
Allen (22-6 overall and 6-3 in conference) will follow this weekend?s tournament with a road match at Labette County next Wednesday to wrap up the regular season.