(Audubon) Audubon opens conference play Thursday against Riverside. The Wheelers are off to a good start to the season at 5-3. In fact, they’ve already won more matches this year than they did all of last season.
Head coach Brandi Gruhn comments on the quick start. “I really didn’t know what my expectations were going into the season. I knew we had some returning players and was excited about that. They are really playing nice volleyball and have some good chemistry going, they are working together, everything is going in the right direction, and we are really excited about that.”
They notched a quality win on Tuesday over ACGC. She says they really worked on their blocking game and it was successful. Mattie Nielsen came through win another big performance, posting 14 kills, 9 digs, 2 aces, and 3 blocks. The sophomore is having a breakout year with team bests of 58 kills and 64 digs. “Mattie is playing awesome volleyball. She’s really getting up on the outside. She’s a strong hitter. She’s challenging herself to get more ambitious with her hits, hit some more lines, and go cross court. She’s become really strong on the outside as well as playing fantastic in the back row. She’s getting up passes and covering the court really well. All around she’s really clicked which is awesome and we are excited to see where the season goes with her.”
They’ll face a strong Riverside team on Thursday. The Lady Dawgs are 9-4. “Our conference play is going to be tough for sure. There’s a lot of good teams in the WIC and everyone has been playing good volleyball so far. They have quite a few good hitters. They are playing really well right now. We are going to do what we can to bring our volleyball game with us and be on the attack and continue to play good defense and see what we can do.”
The Wheelers have implemented a 6-2 and it’s worked well. Aleah Hermansen and Addie Hocker have tackled the setting duties. “It took them a little bit to get used to the two setters, but they’ve really adapted to that. I’m always a coach that pushes everyone to be aggressive and on the attack as well as quick feet in coverage so they’ve adapted to that. I was a little leery at first on covering, but overall I think our speed in our coverage has improved a lot. The girls want to win and winning has been a really big confidence booster for them so they have been willing to do whatever I throw at them at this point which is awesome. They just want to be successful so they keep working.”
Hocker has 66 assists this year and Hermansen has 55. Hermansen and Kali Irlmeier have been among the teams leaders at the service line this season. Hermansen has 13 aces. Irlmeier has 11 aces and a 98.8% serve efficiency.
Audubon coach Brandi Gruhn:
