Tigers get their claws on ’Cats
Marshalltown volleyball swept by Gilbert as slide continues
Kaylee Peschong didn’t couch anything — she made clear her disappointment in Thursday’s Marshalltown volleyball loss to Gilbert.
The Bobcats’ head coach was concise in what she thought went wrong for the 1-9 Bobcats as the visiting Tigers won 25-22, 25-29, 25-11 to sweep the hosts.
“I thought we did not do a great job of playing together,” Peschong said. “I thought we didn’t come out there with very much fight, I thought we looked distracted.
“That’s very disappointing.”
Early and often, the Gilbert attack was more aggressive in setup and execution, taking a lead in the first set and turning it into a grinding, back-and-forth match. Gilbert managed to pull away late in the set and overcame a Marshalltown comeback to close it out 25-22, putting a dent in the Bobcats’ chances right off the bat.
Hitting with efficiency was difficult for the Bobcats, with a hitting percentage of -.051 on the night and only 22 kills to 27 attack errors.
Peschong said the team wasn’t sharp, and there needs to be better preparation for matches to prevent this kind of night from happening again.
“I think that we need to do a better job of prepping them and getting them ready to go for gameday,” Peschong said. “I thought we did not come ready to go.”
Khloe Shipley was the Bobcats’ assist leader with 18 — registering all of Marshalltown’s assists. Leading the way in the attack was Ella Roush with seven, Kennedy Feldman with six and Laney Danielson with four.
The Tigers took a big early lead in the second set, going up 10-4 early and not allowing the Bobcats a chance to breathe. Errors in attack continued and the Bobcats lost set two 25-19 to put themselves in must-win territory going into set three.
A similar start to the third set was too much for Marshalltown to overcome. Gilbert put together multiple runs to leave the Bobcats in the dust and take a 25-11 set three victory, leaving the Bobcats stunned and the Tigers rejoicing.
Saw Paw was Marshalltown’s digs leader with 17, followed by Sara Huffman with eight and Jordyn Daggett and Shipley with seven. Marshalltown only had three aces — one each from Rebekah Downs, Daggett and Shipley.
Marshalltown has lost eight straight games and although some of the competition has been strong, it’s not something Peschong and the team want to continue.
“I think we beat ourselves,” Peschong said. “We have a lot of work to do.”
Up next for the Bobcats is a Tuesday home match with Fort Dodge.