The Cuba City volleyball team split SWAL games last week defeating Boscobel in three games and falling to Fennimore last Thursday night in three games.
At Boscobel the Cubans played a solid match and excelled from the serve line downing the Bulldogs, 25-16, 25-8, 25-12. "Our fundamental skills overpowered Boscobel's ball control," head coach Keri Lawson said. "Our aggressive defense kept Boscobel from making any runs."
Taylor Pickel led the attack with 10 kills and three blocks. Sam Steines added six kills and seven digs. Kayla Marti added 22 assists while Rachel Jansen had eight digs.
At Cuba City for the homecoming match, the Cubans fought for every point in the three-game match (20-25, 20-25, 22-25) that ended up in Fennimore's favor.
Fennimore brought a solid defense and an undefeated record. "Our focus this past week has been less errors on our side of the net," Lawson said. "When you play the best you have to be at your best and better."
Cuba City had slow starts in all three sets and played catch up and there were mistakes that took them out of a flow, which included unusual net violations. "We played heads and tails better than the first time we played Fennimore," Lawson said. "More consistent defense, serve receive, and serving gave us opportunities to stay with a very confident Fennimore team. Miranda Richard played lights out defense all night, and Sam Steines was hot from the net." The Cubans needed to take a set from Fennimore to get the momentum back. In set three the Cubans were up 18-15 but then allowed Fennimore to get six straight points back to take the 21-18 lead.
"We continue to search for a lineup that is consistent." Lawson said. "Small improvements are visible and we just need to focus on the next step and find a way to play a match start to finish."
Steines led with 13 kills while Richard added 26 digs. Mikayla Kaiser added seven kills and Marti had 23 asssits.
The Cubans overall record stands at 14-10 and 5-2 in the SWAL. After traveling to Riverdale Tuesday night, the Cubans prepare for neighboring rival Southwestern on Oct. 4 and will host Mineral Point on Oct. 6 for "Pack it Pink for Cancer" night. Lawson urges all attending to game to wear pink in honor of those fighting cancer and those who lost their battle.