The West Liberty volleyball kicked on their season on Saturday in Grinnell with tournament action.
The Comets went undefeated in pool play, notching wins against South Tama, Ballard and Iowa City West before being ushered from the tournament by host Grinnell in bracket play.
The Comets made quick work of the South Tama Trojans in their first match up of day taking a 21-10 victory in the first set and a 21-14 victory in the second set.
West Liberty tallied 17 kills as a team over the two sets with Sophie Buysse and Kaylee Pelzer grabbing five a piece.
In their second match against Ballard, the Comets dispatched their opponent in similar fashion, taking 21-14 and 21-13 set victories over the Bombers.
Here, Buysse led the team with nine kills and Pelzer with six. Ava Morrison tallied five kills on just nine attempts.
Defensively, all 10 Comet players earned at least one dig. Buysse led with eight while Gabriella Morales had seven and Tenley Nixt had six.
Afterwards, the Comets ended pool play against the Trojans of Iowa City West and took another match in straight sets 25-15 and 21-19.
Emma Yoder racked up 16 assists in this match, helping Pelzer slam down seven kills, Buysse five, Morrison four and Mallory Wulf four.
In bracket play, the Comets matched up against Grinnell in the first round. West Liberty struggled in the first set as the Tigers took the first by a score of 21-16.
The Comets were unable to turn the tides in the second set, falling in closer fashion 21-18.
This was West Liberty’s first loss against Grinnell since Varsity Bound kept records starting in 2009.
In the match, Morrison recorded 12 assists and Buysse had five. Pelzer led the team with six kills while Buysse and Nixt tied for the team lead with four digs.
On the serving side so far this season, Buysse, Nixt and Pelzer each have four aces. However, Morales and Yoder have been the team’s most efficient servers going 26-28 and 24-27 from the line respectively.
West Liberty earned some preseason honors as the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union slotted the Comets into the No. 8 spot in its preseason Class 3A rankings.
Coach Brittney Boffeli’s bunch are off to a hot start as the team looks to build on its 32-12 record from the prior year.
The Comets beat Grinnell in last year’s regional quarterfinal but were stunned by Anamosa in five sets in the regional semifinal.
There is no doubt the goal this season is to get back to the state tournament as the program did in 2021 and 2022.
The journey will continue this week as the season kicks into full swing. West Liberty will head to Tipton on Thursday to take on the Tigers before Saturday’s annual tournament in Muscatine where the Comets will play Durant, Burlington, Williamsburg and the host Muskies.