By: Matt Scher, matts@977thebolt.com
Humboldt, IA – The No. 1 (3A) Humboldt volleyball team remained perfect Thursday night after a 3-0 sweep of Webster City in their North Central Conference home opener.
The Wildcats improved to 7-0 (2-0 NCC) with a 25-16, 25-19, 25-14 sweep of the Lynx.
After controlling the opening set, Humboldt found itself trailing at points during the second before rallying to take control and finish off the sweep.
Humboldt Head Volleyball Coach Kara Waldorf said the Wildcats’ ability to battle through adversity has been one of the encouraging aspects of the team’s early-season success.
“They have a little bit of that grit, like they don’t want to lose, so they’re going to fight every point for it,” Waldorf said.
Waldorf said she felt confident her team would eventually settle down and find its rhythm during the second set.
“I honestly, during that match, I felt just confident in them,” she said.
The Wildcats briefly became too chaotic in their play, according to Waldorf, but were able to regain their composure and put the set away.
“Once they got out of their heads, they seemed to kind of take back control and put that set away,” Waldorf said.
Thursday’s match was another opportunity for a young Humboldt roster to gain experience playing in front of a home crowd.
Waldorf said several players are still getting accustomed to playing on the varsity court in front of the Wildcats’ home fans.
“We have a lot of girls on that team that have never played in front of a home crowd and played on the varsity court just in general,” Waldorf said.
Humboldt’s student section and home crowd provided plenty of energy, but Waldorf said that atmosphere can also create additional pressure for inexperienced players.
“We had a great, great student section, great fans tonight, so I think that just adds a little pressure on when you’re already in your first, you know, varsity game at home,” Waldorf said.
The coach believes the Wildcats will continue to improve as the players gain experience and become more comfortable playing together.
“This truly is a very new group of girls that have only been playing together a short period of time,” Waldorf said. “The more that they gel and mesh and just work together, I think you’re going to just see some really good things from them.”
While Humboldt was able to complete the sweep, serving was one area Waldorf would like to see improve. The Wildcats committed seven or eight service errors in the opening set, something Waldorf called frustrating.
“Just knowing what a difference in that score can make when we’re just handing over seven to eight points makes a huge difference,” she said.
Waldorf attributed some of the errors to nerves, particularly with a young team playing in front of its home crowd. She said the serving improved as the match progressed.
Humboldt entered Thursday’s match having moved up to the No. 1 ranking in Class 3A. Waldorf said the coaching staff did not make the ranking a major talking point before the match. Instead, the focus remained on Humboldt controlling what it could control.
“I just really talked about taking care of our game, and just making sure that we continue to compete as us, we’re playing for each other,” Waldorf said.
The Wildcats will now have a full week between matches before participating in the NCC’s new quad format September 10 at Eagle Grove Elementary School. Humboldt will face Eagle Grove and St. Edmond in best-two-out-of-three matches.
Waldorf said the new format should feel somewhat familiar to the players because of their experience with tournaments and triangulars, but the shorter matches will require an immediate focus.
“It’s something where we really do have to focus and make sure that we don’t take any points off in that game or be able to give points,” Waldorf said. [4:55-5:19]
No. 1 (3A) Humboldt returns to the court at Eagle Grove Elementary School on Thursday, September 10. The Wildcats will face the St. Edmond Gaels first at 7:20 p.m., followed by the Eagle Grove Eagles at 8:30 p.m.