(Guthrie Center) The ACGC volleyball team has found their stride with seven wins in their last eight matches.
The Charger’s win over Madrid on Tuesday moved the team’s record to 10-8. Head coach Jen Policky says, “Yes we do feel like we are in a groove and have found a really good rhythm with the girls. They are working really hard in practice. We not only feel like we have our fundamentals down our passing and Molli Gettler (292 assists) has really found her groove with setting. Chloe Largent is obviously our steady Eddie in terms of being able to have a consistent amount of kills every game. We are a little bit more well rounded. We are running some quicker sets and finding a quicker tempo to the game.”
The uptick in play has been accompanied by Chloe Largent’s return from an injury. The UNI commit is averaging 5.3 kills per set, that’s 2nd most in Class 2A. “We really tried some different things with rotation, moving people and asking them to step in and learn different roles. There’s always going to be a learning curve with that. I think we would have been fine this season either way, but we are obviously much more competitive with Chloe than without, so we are happy to have her back.”
Policky says Mersadez Richter and Jenna Rowley each stepped up in a big way early in the season when Largent was out. The team’s next match won’t be until October 5th when they host Interstate-35. That gives them a lot of practice opportunities ahead. “It’s a double edged sword. We like it so we can drill down and really dig into specifics of the game. So we are looking forward to having time to figure out how we can have a quicker offense with quicks sets and really dig into some specific blocking. The other side of that is it’s a little bit mundane for the girls or can be if there’s nothing to look forward to as far as competitions.”
Coach Policky says consistent passing will be an emphasis moving forward along with getting more blocks. They want to continue the strong serving they’ve seen throughout the season. Largent leads the team with 34 aces while Jenna Rowley has 25. Mersadez Richter and Jordan Lemke are each serving over 96%.
ACGC coach Jen Policky:
