Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First

Junior High volleyball teams endure long tough weeks

Kimball’s seventh grade volleyball club participated in a Sept. 19 game against Mitchell during which they lost in two sets, 20-25, 16-25 with Emma Patterson scoring six for the home team.

The following week they participated in the Scottsbluff Jamboree with games against Alliance, Scottsbluff and Gering on Sept. 25.

The young team struggled against the much larger schools, losing in three sets to Alliance, 6-15, 15-4 and 12-15 before rallying for the first of three sets against Scottsbluff, but ultimately losing again in three sets, 15-9, 10-15 and 10-15. Charlotte Hargraves scored 13 against Alliance and Jayden Paxton tallied six against Scottsbluff.

Finishing off the Jamboree on a high note, the seventh grade team won against Gering in three sets, 15-10, 12-15 and 15-8 with Jayden Paxton leading with six points and Hargraves with five.

The next day the ladies played Pine Bluffs, Wyo. Though the home team fought hard, they brought home a loss in three, 25-20, 14-25 and 15-25.

The young team took a few days to recover and played Bridgeport on Oct. 2 for a quick win in two sets, 25-19 and 25-17, again with Hargraves leading the scorers with 16 followed by Alyssa Paxton with 13 points to her credit.

In eighth grade volleyball action, the home team won against Mitchell in three, 25-14, 22-25 and 15-9 with Payton Wise leading on the board with 17 followed by Riley Hinton with nine.

The older junior high team played the Jamboree in Mitchell, facing off against Mitchell for a second win in just two matching sets, 15-13 with Wise earning eight points.

Next up for Jamboree play pitted the Kimball eighth grade team against that of Alliance for a home team loss in two sets, 9-15 and 13-15 with Tianna Stierwalt earning four for the Longhorn board.

Finally the home team played Sidney in the third match of the day and suffered a hard loss in two, 11-15 and 7-15 with Wise putting three on the board and Katie Heeg adding two.

The next day the ladies faced Pine Bluffs, for a loss in two matching sets, 19-25, with Heeg leading with seven points. Followed by an Oct. 2 loss to Bridgeport in two sets, 18-25 and 11-25, again with Heeg in the lead with four points.

The ladies played against Gering on Oct. 5 and Bayard on Oct. 9, but no information regarding those games was available at press time.

The next games for the junior high home teams is today, Tursday, Oct. 12 at Morrill.