ARGYLE - Even with senior hitter Hillary Best back in the lineup, Albany volleyball coach Connie Wunschel still doesn't believe her team is moving on all cylinders yet.
"When we don't have her in the lineup it almost seems like we play with a better rhythm, because we've played most of our games without her," said Wunschel after the Comets' sweep of Argyle Tuesday, 25-20, 25-22, 27-25. "I was so worried about (Argyle). They are scrappy and have always been scrappy. They find a way to stay in the game."
Best was lost three weeks earlier in the Six Rivers East opener at Black Hawk with an ankle injury, but returned last week in limited action.
"We're still trying to work out some of them bugs, but it is nice to have another big hitter up there," Wunschel said. "Her time on the bench has not been wasted, though. She sees what happens out on the court. She sees feet not moving and no one talking. Now she gets out there and knows what to look for. A little coaches eye."
Known as a spark-plug on the court by the coaching staff, Best picked up the Comets when they needed her the most. Trailing 24-22 in the third game, Best sent a spike into open real estate to pull the Comets within a point. Moments later, down 25-24, Kaitlyn Schulz and Sydney Bump had back-to-back block kills to put Albany at match point.
"That was huge. Those two plays were really big," Wunschel said.
Argyle had led Albany the entire set. The Orioles scored the first four points of the game and forced Wunschel to call timeout after a 7-1 run made it 11-5.
"We came out here to win a ballgame," Argyle head coach Shane Johnson said. "A close game is nice, but we came out here to win. We wanted to win and had our hearts set on it."
Albany led big in the first game, posting a 22-12 score before the Orioles went on a 8-2 run to make things interesting. In the second game, Albany held the lead nearly the entire time, but a late 4-0 run by Argyle made it 23-22 before the Comets pulled it out.
"Too many mistakes. We gave away opportunities," Johnson said. "You look at the scores - they're all close. You look at our stats and they look good. There was just too many mistakes in there. You can't afford them against good teams."
The one consistent throughout the night was Albany senior Sydney Bump, the reigning conference player of the year.
"Sydney Bump plays good every night," Johnson said.
Bump finished with 15 kills, nine digs and three blocks.
"I'm just glad Sydney is that smart. There's not a lot of dumb mistakes she makes. Usually when she has a mistakes she tries to hit it too hard," Wunschel said.
Senior Courtney Pfeuti had 22 assists and 17 digs for the Comets. Junior KayLee Johnson had 10 digs while Best had nine digs and three kills. Schulz, a senior, added seven kills for Albany.
Argyle's junior Danielle Treuthardt had nine kills and a block. Junior Micala Peterson had seven kills and three aces and sophomore setter Kayla Ostby had 24 assists.
"I thought Danielle Treuthardt had a nice night for us at the net. She got her hands on a lot of balls. It was a solid performance," Johnson said. "And we've seen a continued consistent growth from Kayla Ostby. She's had so much to learn, and the biggest being ball placement - where to set and when.
"Timing is a big thing. When their (Treuthardt and Ostby) timing is on, they are very strong. They haven't spent two or three years working together so the timing isn't all there yet."
Argyle (3-3 conference) opens up the second half of its conference schedule Thursday at Pecatonica (1-5).
"We're close. We're real close. We're better than we were yesterday and the day before that. We're still getting better and hopefully by the end of the year we're putting it all together," Johnson said. "Our goal is to run the table (in the second half). There's nothing to say that's going to be easy, but that's what we're shooting for."
Albany (6-0) hosts Black Hawk (5-1) Thursday.
"I'm not going to sleep until it's over. It's going to be hard fought because I know they've improved," Wunschel said of Black Hawk.
"When we don't have her in the lineup it almost seems like we play with a better rhythm, because we've played most of our games without her," said Wunschel after the Comets' sweep of Argyle Tuesday, 25-20, 25-22, 27-25. "I was so worried about (Argyle). They are scrappy and have always been scrappy. They find a way to stay in the game."
Best was lost three weeks earlier in the Six Rivers East opener at Black Hawk with an ankle injury, but returned last week in limited action.
"We're still trying to work out some of them bugs, but it is nice to have another big hitter up there," Wunschel said. "Her time on the bench has not been wasted, though. She sees what happens out on the court. She sees feet not moving and no one talking. Now she gets out there and knows what to look for. A little coaches eye."
Known as a spark-plug on the court by the coaching staff, Best picked up the Comets when they needed her the most. Trailing 24-22 in the third game, Best sent a spike into open real estate to pull the Comets within a point. Moments later, down 25-24, Kaitlyn Schulz and Sydney Bump had back-to-back block kills to put Albany at match point.
"That was huge. Those two plays were really big," Wunschel said.
Argyle had led Albany the entire set. The Orioles scored the first four points of the game and forced Wunschel to call timeout after a 7-1 run made it 11-5.
"We came out here to win a ballgame," Argyle head coach Shane Johnson said. "A close game is nice, but we came out here to win. We wanted to win and had our hearts set on it."
Albany led big in the first game, posting a 22-12 score before the Orioles went on a 8-2 run to make things interesting. In the second game, Albany held the lead nearly the entire time, but a late 4-0 run by Argyle made it 23-22 before the Comets pulled it out.
"Too many mistakes. We gave away opportunities," Johnson said. "You look at the scores - they're all close. You look at our stats and they look good. There was just too many mistakes in there. You can't afford them against good teams."
The one consistent throughout the night was Albany senior Sydney Bump, the reigning conference player of the year.
"Sydney Bump plays good every night," Johnson said.
Bump finished with 15 kills, nine digs and three blocks.
"I'm just glad Sydney is that smart. There's not a lot of dumb mistakes she makes. Usually when she has a mistakes she tries to hit it too hard," Wunschel said.
Senior Courtney Pfeuti had 22 assists and 17 digs for the Comets. Junior KayLee Johnson had 10 digs while Best had nine digs and three kills. Schulz, a senior, added seven kills for Albany.
Argyle's junior Danielle Treuthardt had nine kills and a block. Junior Micala Peterson had seven kills and three aces and sophomore setter Kayla Ostby had 24 assists.
"I thought Danielle Treuthardt had a nice night for us at the net. She got her hands on a lot of balls. It was a solid performance," Johnson said. "And we've seen a continued consistent growth from Kayla Ostby. She's had so much to learn, and the biggest being ball placement - where to set and when.
"Timing is a big thing. When their (Treuthardt and Ostby) timing is on, they are very strong. They haven't spent two or three years working together so the timing isn't all there yet."
Argyle (3-3 conference) opens up the second half of its conference schedule Thursday at Pecatonica (1-5).
"We're close. We're real close. We're better than we were yesterday and the day before that. We're still getting better and hopefully by the end of the year we're putting it all together," Johnson said. "Our goal is to run the table (in the second half). There's nothing to say that's going to be easy, but that's what we're shooting for."
Albany (6-0) hosts Black Hawk (5-1) Thursday.
"I'm not going to sleep until it's over. It's going to be hard fought because I know they've improved," Wunschel said of Black Hawk.
