Indees sweep Thunder, Mustangs to tie for DC lead

With two wins last week, the Independence/Gilmanton volleyball team moved back into first place in the Dairyland Conference.

The Indees had little trouble sweeping Osseo-Fairchild on Tuesday and Melrose-Mindoro on Thursday. The wins moved I/G into a three-way tie for first place with Whitehall and Blair-Taylor, as all three teams had 7-1 records.

I/G also went 3-1 in a tournament hosted by La Crosse Logan as the team began this week with an overall record of 21-4. 

The Dairyland Conference championship will be determined this week as the Indees played at Alma/Pepin on Tuesday and at Eleva-Strum on Thursday. 

Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament play begins next Tuesday, but the brackets had yet to be released as of press time. 

I/G   25 25 25

O-F   5 19 20

The Indees were in control as they swept the Thunder on the road.

I/G established dominance with a 20-point win in the first set then won the next two comfortably for the sweep. 

Hadley Sylla led the team with nine kills and tied Celia Slaby for the team lead with two blocks. I/G had a balanced offensive attack as Nora Schank and Hailey Gruber both had five kills, while Hannah Ekern added four and Shauna Dejno finished with three. Ekern handled most of the setting duties, finishing with 21 assists; she also led the team with eight digs. 

Yuritza Bautista Santiago had a team-high five aces, while Slaby added four and Ekern finished with three. 

I/G   25 25 25

M-M   9 17 17

The Indees were able to establish control early and cruised to a sweep.

Statistics for the match were unavailable as of press time. 

Logan Tournament

The Indees went 3-1, losing only to a team from across the Mississippi River.

I/G swept Mauston and Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau, and defeated Cochrane-Fountain City, 2-1, in the tournament. The team’s only loss was a 2-1 defeat by Winona Cotter. 

The Indees cruised over Mauston, 25-13, 25-12. Schank, Hadley Sylla, and Slaby all had three kills. Slaby also had a huge match at the service line with six aces. Ekern had nine assists to lead the team, while Danika Ekern had a team-best six digs. 

Sylla had five kills to lead the Indees in their 25-5, 25-23 win over G-E-T. Slaby added five aces from the service line, and was second on the team with three kills. Hannah Ekern led the team with seven digs and 10 assists. 

The Indees won the first set against Cotter, 25-19, but dropped the next two, 26-24, 15-12. I/G won the first set against Cochrane-Fountain City, 27-25, but dropped the second, 25-20, before taking the third, 15-11. Statistics for those two matches were not available as of press time.