OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Johnson County volleyball coach Jennifer Ei like what she saw in her team's season debut over the weekend at the Opening Tournament in Rockford, Ill.
"We had a good start this weekend against teams from Illinois, Michigan, Florida and North Dakota," Ei said. "It was competitive, and we learned a lot about us as a team. We look forward this week to getting into the gym to work on some things we need to improve but overall, it was a great start."
The No. 4 ranked Cavaliers went 4-0 in the tournament, against teams that have a combined 15 NJCAA D-II Tournament appearances. They also downed two Top 20 ranked team in No. 9 Muskegon and No. 15 Gulf Coast State and posted a set record of 12-1.
Johnson County opened the tournament on Friday, August 18, with a 3-0 sweep over Sauk Valley (25-16, 25-17, 25-16) followed by another sweep over Muskegon (25-16, 25-15, 25-9). On Saturday JCCC won the first two sets and fourth set over Gulf Coast State for their third victory (25-17, 25-10, 23-25, 25-18) and closed out the tournament with 3-0 sweep over North Dakota SCS (25-15, 25-20, 25-17).
JCCC hitters Tori Valentine (Blue Springs, Mo.), Sarina Ulberg (Independence, Mo.) and Sophia Ewy (Eudora, Kan.) played in all 12 of the 13 sets and combined for 103 kills. Valentine led the way with 39 kills to go along with 40 digs. Her best effort was in a 3-1 win over No. 15 Gulf Coast State where she posted a double-double of 19 kills and 11 digs. Her 19 kills tie the 31st best performance in team history.
Ulberg tallied 36 total kills highlighted by an 11-kill effort in a sweep over North Dakota SCS. That total ties her second-highest effort in her career. She also posted back-to-back nine kill efforts in wins over No. 9 Muskegon and No. 15 Gulf Coast State.
Ewy, an all-conference honorable mention selection last year, finished with 28 kills and 16 digs. She opened the tournament with seven kills in a sweep over Sauk Valley and followed with nine kills in the sweep over No. 9 Muskegon, marking her second-best match total of her career. Also in that match she tied her career high for digs with eight.
Running the offense for the Cavaliers were sophomore setter Sydney Fiatte (Shawnee, Kan.) and freshman Wren VanCleave (Bonner Springs, Kan.). Fiatte picked up where she left off last season by reaching double figures in assists in all four matches last weekend at the Opening Tournament in Rockford, Ill. Fiatte established her second highest match total with 20 assists in the win over Gulf Coast State and tied her third-best with 19 in the sweep over Sauke Valley. She finished with 71 total assists for a 5.46 set average while leading the Cavaliers offense in four victories. She also collected five kills, 21 digs and three aces.
VanCleave was a close second with 58 total assists for a set average of 4.83. She too finished in double figures all four matches with her top effort of 17 against Sauk Valley.
Leading the way on defense was sophomore Emily Silvers (Lawrence, Kan.) with 61 total digs for a set average of 4.69. Silvers reached double digit digs in three of the four matches and she opened the season by matching her career high of 24 in the sweep over Sauk Valley. In the win over No. 15 Gulf Coast State she tallied her second highest career total with 19 digs.
Two other true freshmen who had an impressive collegiate debut were right-side hitter Kennedy Smalley (Harrisonville, Mo.) and middle/outside hitter Bella Hedke (Marysville, Kan.). Smalley finished with 23 kills over three matches and Hedke had 16 kills, 10 coming in the sweep over North Dakota SCS, and she led the team with 15 block assists.
Johnson County will begin their quest to repeat as conference champions when they travel across town to take on Kansas City Kansas on Wednesday, August 23 at 6:30 p.m. They return home to hose NEO A&M and Lincoln Land on Saturday, August 26 at Noon and 4 p.m.