Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – In its first four matches this season West High has surrounded mostly strong play with a few struggles.

Match number five against fifth-ranked Linn-Mar on Tuesday brought more of the same.

Class 5A No. 13 West High led after the 12-point mark in all four sets but couldn’t turn it into a win falling 25-23, 25-17, 25-27, 25-17 to fourth-ranked Linn-Mar (4-2) in a Mississippi Valley Conference match at West High.

“I think tonight we played pretty well, there are obviously a few lows but I think we played pretty well against a good team,” West High senior Colby Greene said. “We just had a few lulls or a few down moments in the middle of the games that ended up killing us at the end.

Just as it had in the first week of the season, West High had plenty of highlights on Tuesday while dropping to 3-2 on the season.

Greene was a force in the front row, hammering a match-high 20 kills.

West High showed grit fighting off a set point to win the third set on back-to-back Cailyn Morgan kills and balance with five players with more than five kills.

The Women of Troy also showed it needed some work, allowing three straight points to close out the first set and a 10-0 run that led to a 25-17 loss in the second.

“We are definitely working on stuff,” First-year coach Scott Sanders said. “We tried a different lineup the first two sets trying to fit the pieces that we’ve got together.”

West High had a chance to seize the momentum early in the top-15 showdown taking a 23-22 lead in the opening set.

Linn-Mar responded with a 3-0 capped by an Ellie Von Lehmden kill that secured a 25-23 win.

The Women of Troy appeared ready to pull even in the second set, taking a 12-9 lead but Linn-Mar scored the next 10 points and never trailed again in a 25-17 win.

“I think there is one rotation that we have to work out and think passing as a whole has to get a lot better,” Sanders said. “In that third set we passed a lot better but it’s a learning tool.”

West High rallied from a 21-17 deficit in the third set to keep the match alive.

Greene had a kill and two ace blocks in a 5-1 West High run that turned a 21-17 into a 22-all tie.

“I like how everybody on our team comes and shows intensity,” Greene said. “We know there are high standards here and we are following through and meet those standards.”

Linn-Mar led 24-23 but West High pulled even on a Morgan kill and then took the set following back-to-back kills by Morgan.

“We passed much better in the third set and we terminate well when we pass well,” Sanders said. “We will serve a little tougher and we will work on a lot of passing.

West High led 12-11 in the fourth set but Linn-Mar scored seven of the next nine points to build a 18-14 lead and never trailed again.

Morgan had nine kills, Emily Burtch eight and Claire Overton seven kills and 11 digs.

Keimoney Lang led West High with 14 digs.

Things don’t get any easier for West High as the Women of Troy face four ranked teams on Saturday at the West Des Moines Valley Tournament.

West High will face third-ranked Valley, fifth-ranked West Des Moines Dowling and No. 14 Ankeny along with 4A fifth-ranked Charles City and Waukee.

“It feels like we could go somewhere but there are definitely things to learn,” Sanders said. “We go to the valley tournament this week so we will have a lot of opportunity to get better over there.”