Central outplayed in volleyball loss

PELLA — After a strong first set, the Central College volleyball team could not sustain the offense in a three-game defeat Friday night, 25-20, 25-11, 25-16.

It was the home opener for the Dutch (1-2, 1-2 American Rivers Conference) while the Knights remained unbeaten in league matches (2-1, 2-0 conference).

The Dutch notched just 20 kills compared to 23 hitting errors, resulting in a negative hitting percentage.

“When you make that many hitting errors, you’re not going to win a match,” coach Jeanne Czipri said. “We knew what was going to happen and we were not making the adjustments we needed to make in order to be competitive. It’s disappointing because we have the skill to be competitive.”

Krissa Larson (junior, outside hitter, Waverly, Waverly-Shell Rock HS) led the team with six kills in just 12 attempts.

“What was unfortunate was that we didn’t have her in the front row enough,” Czipri said. “We got stuck in rotations and we couldn’t get out of them.”

Middle hitter Kayleigh Fite (senior, Florissant, Mo., Trinity Catholic HS) had three kills and a pair of aces. Amanda Smith (sophomore, setter, Tipton) had 17 assists and libero Landry Luhring (junior, Grundy Center) had 16 digs.

The Dutch return to action next Thursday with a 5 p.m. match at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln.

“Hopefully, we use this weekend as a rebound,” Czipri said. “We need to recover, refresh, reset and make the changes that we need to make.”