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"If you build it, he will come."
Famous line from the movie Field of Dreams.
Could be revamped a little for the Barneveld girls volleyball team, as in "If you build it, they will come."
The "they" are the fans who will witness some exciting volleyball if they come to watch the ever improving Golden Eagles. The girls currently sit at the top of the Six Rivers East after turning back two conference powers, Monticello and Black Hawk. Monticello was the pre-season favorite to win the SRE and Black Hawk had not lost to the Eagles since the 1990's.
After a win last week at Monticello and one last Thursday at Black Hawk the Eagles are in good shape early in the season.
Now if they can just get people to come and watch.
"I am so proud of how well the team has performed so far," said coach Kevin Knudson after the win over Black Hawk. "I think we have played some very good competition in our first three matches. We have a lot of season left and the scary thing is that I think we can still improve."
That improvement could be enhanced with some extra incentive from a larger fan base.
" I hope some fans will come out and watch the girls,"Knudson said. " I think they would be impressed with how well they are playing. And, the girls deserve that."
The Eagles knocked off the Lady Warriors in four games, winning the first 25-20, the third 25-18 and the fourth 25-7. The only bump came in game two when Black Hawk evened the match with a 25-19 win.
The win sets the Eagles at 3-0 in conference and are at 12-3 overall.
Madi Laube led the service points category with 19 and Danielle Straubhaar added 16. McKenzie Sporle came through with 15 service points and four aces.
Sophomore Rachel Slaney led the Eagles in blocks with six while junior Samantha Evans had the most kills with 14. The Eagles put down 32 total kills.
Straubhaar was the Barneveld assist leader with 23.
Any apprehension Knudson had before the match vanished early.
"Entering the match, I was a little worried that after a big win on Tuesday, we might have a little mental let down," Knudson said. "Often teams think after a big win the next one should be easier but that is usually not the case."
The Eagles established themselves early.
"Game one we came out and played really well. I would say half of Black Hawk's points were from our mistakes," Knudson said.
"Game two we struggled again. I am thinking of just skipping game two," he said. "In game two, Jen Wellnitz dominated play and rallied the team around her. She is a great athlete and a very nice young lady. She served well, had six kills, played a nice back row and got a hand on all our hits. We couldn't get anything going."
Game three saw the momentum move back into Barneveld's favor and game four was more of the same.
"In games three and four we got things rolling again, especially in game four," the coach said. "Everyone stepped it up. Evans took over with the kills, Madi Laube and Danielle Straubhaar had eight and seven serving points and Rachel Slaney turn the net into a wall with four blocks. The match ended on Jen Wellnitz going up for a kill and Slaney blocking the ball right back at her."
"Once we got playing well our passing, setting and hitting was very good," Knudson added. "I thought Madi Laube had one of her best matches of her career. I thought our two freshman struggled a bit, but they will bounce back."
The Eagles also got a huge contribution off the bench.
"Cayla Carden did a nice job coming off the bench and gave us some quality time," Knudson said.
"We have plenty of season left but we are playing very well."