Wrens take Fond du Lac

The Wrenshall Wrens notched a road volleyball win on Tuesday night by beating the Fond du Lac Ogichidaa 25-15, 25-20 and 25-13, as two of the areas smallest schools did battle at FDL.

"Offensively we served aggressively from start to finish," said Wrens coach John Peterson. "Brooke Kent served particularly well with nine aces. Then when we got the ball in transition we found our hitters early and established leads."

Playing with an already young line up, the news prior to the game was not good for the Ogichidaa who lost a couple of players to injury.

"It's tough because we lost two of our starters due to injury before the game," said Fond du Lac coach Earl Otis. "We are doing a new system this year and there is a little more to learn than the past few years, but the girls are playing very well for me."

No statistics were available for the Ogichidaa as the PKN went to press, but Kent also finished with seven kills for the Wrens while Jenna Johnson had 11 set assists and Maggie Sowada recorded 20 digs in the back row.

"Since practice started my girls have gotten much more comfortable moving and positioning on defense and they can be tough to score on at times," Peterson said. "We are also starting to swing more effectively and mix up what we do on offense with a few plays, so I'm very happy with how my team is playing so far."

Fond du Lac is also seeing some marked improvement with a couple of eighth graders proving to be solid players at the high school level.

"My two eighth graders, Cheyenne Olson and Leilani Fonoti, have been playing very well," Coach Otis said. "Olson is a setter and Fonoti is an outside hitter. Namida Reynolds, Alyza Savage and Talayah Martineau are also playing well for us."

For Wrenshall a pair of captains, Kent and Johnson, are leading the way.

"To start the year I have a few players that are playing exceptional," Peterson said. "Brooke Kent has taken a step forward this year in her defense and skills. She leads the team in kills by a wide margin. My other captain, Jenna Johnson, who is the team's setter, shows heart on every single play. She is passionate about what she does and hustles every single play. Both of those players have tremendous spirit and boost the team morale."

With the win the Wrens improved to 4-2 on the season, while the Ogichidaa fell to 0-4 with the loss.

Otis pointed out that his team has a new head coach and a new system.

"We are playing well on the road and at home, but the girls are starting to understand the new systems and I hope we can turn the season around," Otis said. "I have a great group of coachable girls. I also have to give a big thanks to my assistant coach, Ashley Jaakola, and to my other assistants, Abigail Otis and Larisa Littlewolf, who have been helping me out."