Red Devils struggle in first two volleyball matches of season

The Sesser-Valier/Waltonville Red Devils volleyball team opened the season on Thursday night taking on 1A powerhouse Woodlawn. First-game jitters certainly showed for the Red Devils as they lost the contest, 25-11, 25-15.

Woodlawn came out of the gate fast, jumping out to a 9-1 lead. The Red Devils could never recover. It seemed that every ball they hit went straight to a Woodlawn defender.

"You could definitely tell it was our first game," said Red Devils head coach Brook Williams. "The best stat of the night for us was that we only missed one serve. However, we only scored off of five of our serves."

The second set was very similar to the first. Nothing would fall for the Red Devils and everything fell for the Cardinals.

"We found ourselves out of position a lot," said Williams. "But these are things that we have been working on, and I know we will get better."

On Saturday, SVW traveled to Chester for the team's first Black Diamond Conference matchup of the season. The Red Devils were defeated in straight sets: 25-22, 25-14.

SVW tried to make a comeback in the first set. The Devils were down 24-15 when Dakota Quinn went on a 7-0 run with her serves to close the gap to two at 24-22. However, they would get no closer.

The Red Devils could never recover in the second set.

"There were points in the game that we looked much better," said Williams. "We have to play a complete game if we want to win."

Leading the way for the Devils in the two contests was Quinn who had a great serving performance putting 12-of-14 in play and scoring nine points. Carlie Page added a combined 11 kills in the two contests.

SVW was to play at Elverado Tuesday and then host Vienna Thursday.