Wiesbaden's Savannah Fisher spikes the ball over the net while Black Forest Academy's Madalena Roberts and Adrienne Marlin attempt to block her shot, on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017, at Ansbach, Germany. (Martin Egnash/Stars and Stripes)
Wiesbaden's Savannah Fisher spikes the ball over the net while Black Forest Academy's Madalena Roberts and Adrienne Marlin attempt to block her shot, on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017, at Ansbach, Germany. (Martin Egnash/Stars and Stripes)
Baumholder's Abby Fox dives for a ball during a game against Black Forest Academy, on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017, at Ansbach, Germany. (Martin Egnash/Stars and Stripes)
Baumholder's Taylor Lynch serves during a game against Ansbach, on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017, at Ansbach, Germany. (Martin Egnash/Stars and Stripes)
Wiesbaden's Mallory Johnson sets up a shot for teammate Kaleigh Mackey during a game against Ansbach, on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017 at Ansbach, Germany. (Martin Egnash/Stars and Stripes)
ANSBACH, Germany – Wiesbaden was the only Division I entry in a four-team volleyball meeting Saturday.
And the Warriors showed it.
Wiesbaden defeated Ansbach 25-10, 25-11, 25-3 and Black Forest Academy 25-18, 25-14, 25-20.
Two of the Warriors’ games against BFA were fairly close, with strong net play on both sides by teams with tall, aggressive attack zones.
Wiesbaden assistant coach Chris Moed attributed the victories to the Warriors’ sense of teamwork, and players’ ability to play in different positions.
“There is no one person that stole the show here. It’s really a team effort. Every single person on that bench played great, and did something to make us win,” Moed said.
A highlight was when Warriors’ Nickeya Marshall went for the ball, and it accidentally hit her head, bouncing over the net, and scoring a point. She was met with plenty of, “that’s using your head,” jokes from her teammates the rest of the day.
Team captain Mallory Johnson’s leadership on the court helped the other girls stay on track, Moed said.
Wiesbaden had little problem against host Ansbach, the smallest school present. In the final game, Marshall served up 10 points in a row.
“Serving is not usually our biggest strength, but it was today,” head coach Linnea Velsaag said. “A lot of our girls had to play different positions than they usually would today. It’s a credit to their flexibility that they can do that so well.”
Black Forest Academy won its other game against Baumholder 25-20, 25-20, 25-21. It was a more evenly matched contest, though the significantly taller Falcons had a stronger net game.
“It’s more of a mental game than a physical game to us,” Falcons’ head coach Kim Mckell said. “Once we started playing our game, and stay in our system, we had a lot of success.”
Baumholder played well against Ansbach, winning 25-13, 25-11, 25-16. The games weren’t close, but there were some suspenseful back-and-forths of each team fighting tooth and nail to will the ball over the net.
“We moved our feet more, we talked to each other, and played well,” said Baumholder coach Joanna Rodriguez.
Rodriguez likes her team’s approach.
“All the girls get a long really well,” Rodriguez said. “This helps in the game a lot. If somebody tells you to do something different or you want to tell a teammate to try something, it’s just easier to take advice from a friend.”
Twitter: @Marty_Stripes
