Mustangs show promise in opening loss to Clippers (2024)

RAYMOND — Currently, at Raymond Central, there is a youth movement in the volleyball program. With only four seniors and a lot of underclassmen, it was a question of how the Mustangs would play against a C-1 No. 8 Malcolm squad coming off a state tournament appearance in C-1.

Despite losing in straight sets, Raymond Central was very competitive falling, by scores of 25-23, 25-12, and 25-21 in their home opener.

“That gives us a ton of confidence,” Raymond Central Head Coach Taylor Vasa said. “We are a very young team with four total seniors and the rest are pretty much sophomores and freshmen. The fact that we are competitive against that type of team gives us a lot of confidence for the upcoming season and even the next season moving forward.”

In the opening set, the Mustangs battled back to tie things up at five apiece on a long serve from Malcolm. A block at the net and then a kill from Alexa Otto helped put Raymond Central in front 8-7.

Freshman Hailee Wiig made her presence known up front with a big kill in the middle that extended the Mustangs advantage to two.

Malcolm wasn’t going to go away that easily and fought back to go up 15-14. Kills at the net by Kendra TenEyck and Otto tied things up at 19.

Trailing by one late in the first, Quincy Cotter delivered an ace to even things up at 22-22. Following that point, the Clippers went on a 3-1 run and won the opening set by two.

Raymond Central did not get off to a good start in the second set, falling behind 7-0 to Malcolm. They did get a pair of kills from Otto and an ace from Taylor Lockman that trimmed the Mustangs deficit to six at one point at 14-8.

Ultimately, the Clippers had too much momentum and rolled to a 13-point set win and a 2-0 match lead.

Following the lopsided loss, Raymond Central raced out to a 7-2 advantage behind a pair of aces from Otto in the third set. That was one of five aces in the match for the Mustangs and it looks to be a strong point for the team this year.

“Being able to serve is one thing we really focused on during practices,” Vasa said. “Being able to have a really strong service team is very beneficial. That really helps with the points and going on a run.”

With their backs against the wall, Malcolm once again found a way to rally and pull within one. Wiig stopped the bleeding for Raymond Central with a kill off the right side that put the Mustangs back up by two at 10-8.

Midway through the set, Callie Schroeder dropped in a pair of aces that gave Malcolm a 12-11 lead. From then on, the Clippers held onto a slim edge on their way to winning the set by four and the match 3-0.

Cotter led the Mustangs at the net with five kills in the match while Otto finished with four and Wiig picked up three.

Vasa is very excited about the talent level of these three girls and believes they will help Raymond Central have a successful season.

“It’s awesome,” Vasa said. “They are young with Otto being a sophomore and Wiig being a freshman. Those are two young players with a lot of potential moving forward. Cotter being that veteran and her last year, unfortunately, can really guide them and help them through the season. It’s really going to be beneficial so that way those three can really be a unit up in the front.”

Finishing with two aces was Otto, while Julia Shultz, Lockman and Cotter all had one. TenEyck came through with one blocked shot and one kill.

From the setter position, Savannah Masek had 10 assists, three digs, assisted on a blocked shot, and had one kill.

Raymond Central played Class C-2 No. 1 Lincoln Lutheran at home on Sept. 3. They took part in a triangular with DC West and Logan View on Sept. 5.