Linn’s volleyball squad performed well at Saturday’s Rolla Invitational. The Lady Wildcats finished fourth among 12 schools, many of them larger.

“We played with much bigger schools and were able to not only compete with them but come out with a fourth-place finish,” said Coach Megan Russell.

Linn went 2-2-2 in pool play, earning the team a fifth seed going into bracket play. The Lady Cats defeated Class 2 Mid Buchanan, 25-20, 25-23, and split with Washington (Class 4) 25-19, 22-25, and Rolla (Class 5) 13-25, 25-17.

In bracket play, Linn knocked off Class 5’s Waynesville, 25-23, 25-23. “We continued to do well both at the net and the line,” said Russell. “Our communication has improved so much since the start of the season. By the second round of the tournament, you could start to tell the girls were getting fatigued.”

In that round, the Lady Cats lost to Class 3 Logan Rogersville, 10-25, 19-25, and in the final match of the day, Linn lost to Rolla, 20-25, 13-25. “We ended the day playing three tough matches in a row, and you could tell the fatigue was starting to affect them,” said Russell. “We didn’t have much reserve on the bench due to illness and injuries we are currently facing. This was a great confidence booster for the team as we are finishing up the regular season in the next two weeks. Many of the girls were frustrated, thinking we should have done better, but overall, I am very pleased with how the day went. We continue to look at small changes to ensure a successful finish to our season.”

In last week’s first conference match of the season, Linn secured a varsity win against Tipton, the teams’ third matchup of the year. The Lady Cats split in the Fr. Tolton tournament pool play and lost to the Lady Cardinals in bracket play. 

“It was nice to see the girls come out strong and finish it in three sets,” said Russell. “We played very well as a team. Communication was strong on the court, as was our serving and work at the net. Overall, the team’s stats were much improved from Monday night’s match, except for our team serving percentage, which I attribute to more aggressive serving against Tipton. We are starting to really come together as the season progresses, and it’s exciting to see.

Nicole Grellner led the team with 32 assists as Vivien Baker posted 12 digs, and Carley Brandt had four blocks.