After rolling to five wins to start the volleyball season, Wauneta-Palisade found a tougher row to hoe Saturday at the Hitchcock County Tournament.
    WP faced Hitchcock County  (5-3) to start pool play in the tournament. Rather than playing varsity and JV tournaments, this year the tournament had two three-team pools with first, third and fifth place games following.
    The Broncos got off to a slow start against the Falcons, losing the first set 8-25.
    WP Head Coach Terra Higgins thought the 8 a.m. MT/9 a.m. CT start time affected the Broncos. Higgins said the team will hopefully be better prepared for an early start at the Sept. 23 Brady Tournament.
    WP lost the second set 22-25.
    “It just took us too long to get going in the Hitchcock County game, which I think was disappointing to me and the team,” Higgins said.
    Michaela Dukes had eight assists and four aces for the Broncos. Faith Simpson had eight kills and three solo blocks.
    There was little time for the Broncos to regroup as WP immediately faced Axtell (4-3) in the second game of the day.
    WP lost the match 23-25, 20-25 and left Higgins feeling like the team was still shaken from the Hitchcock County game.
    “We didn’t pass well or serve well in either game, which is so crucial when you are playing good teams,” Higgins said. “I think we all wish that we could have both of those games back because we know we did not play our best.”
    Simpson finished with 14 kills in the match and four solo blocks. Dukes had 15 assists.
    For the fifth place game, WP travelled to Culbertson to take on Arapahoe (2-6).
    The Broncos lost the first set 21-25, but pulled together to win the match 25-22, 25-21.
    Teamwork and being disciplined pulled out the win for WP, according to Higgins.

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