Prep volleyball: Warriors edge Centerville, Pekin at WACO Tournament

WAYLAND — Another volleyball season began on Monday at the WACO Tournament.

For the third consecutive year, Van Buren County left the gym in Wayland with perfect record. The Warriors swept Pekin (21-9, 21-9), Centerville (21-14, 21-19) and WACO (21-11, 21-16) extending the school's winning streak in the tournament to 11 straight matches.

Daphny Wells had two aces and three kills to help the Warriors secure the win over Pekin to open the season. Ashlynn Huff added an ace and four kills against Centerville before collecting three aces and eight kills in the sweep of WACO.

Paislee Coleman had four kills for the Panthers against Van Buren County and finished with a team-high 17 winners at the net in the three matches. Taya Belloma finished with four kills for the Redettes against the Warriors while Payden Hoffman added a pair of ace serves.

Centerville opened the season winning two of three matches, including a three-set battle with Pekin (15-21, 21-17, 15-6) to close out the night after opening the season with a 21-16, 21-17 sweep against WACO. Matty Kovacevich collected six kills and a pair of ace serves to pace the Redettes in the season opener against the Warriors.

Pekin finished off the night securing a 21-16, 21-18 win over WACO. Payten Coleman added five digs and a pair of ace serves in the final match of the night.

Sigourney spent the most time on the court, playing eight sets in three matches including a comeback win over Louisa-Muscatine almost five hours after the tournament began. The Savages bounced back from dropping a pair of 21-18 sets to Burlington-Notre Dame, edging Columbus (21-16, 21-23, 15-8) and L-M (19-21, 21-17, 15-10) to post a 2-1 record in the season-opening tournament.

The Savages finished with 51 kills in the three matches, led by 15 kills from Charli Smothers. Ella Bruns led Sigourney with four ace serves while Bailey Gretter collected 39 digs in the tournament.