Yelm volleyball looks to bounce back after losses to Black Hills, Stadium

Following back-to-back 3-1 losses against Black Hills on Tuesday, Sept. 9, and Stadium on Wednesday, Sept. 10, Yelm High School’s volleyball team has its sights set on bouncing back in non-conference play before settling into South Puget Sound League action next week.

The Tornados were defeated 3-1 in the fourth set of each game and will wrap up its preseason on the road at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 18, against W.F. West High School in Centralia. Additionally, Yelm played Shelton High School on Tuesday, Sept. 16, but results were not readily available prior to publication.

Heidi DeFord, Yelm’s head volleyball coach, told the Nisqually Valley News on Monday, Sept. 16, that the two early-season losses presented plenty of learning opportunities for the Tornados to take and grow from.

“It was a little rough. Tuesday, for sure, we did not sure up. We had over 30 unforced errors. It just wasn’t our team. We did turn it around on Wednesday and played much better against a stronger team,” DeFord said. “We’re not super happy, but we’re going to use it as a learning experience, especially with where things went wrong on Tuesday in particular.”

The third year coach at Yelm hopes to see her team iron out some minor wrinkles before SPSL action arrives. Yelm’s first league games are set for 7:15 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 22, at Emerald Ridge High School against the Jaguars, and at home at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 24 against the Graham-Kapowsin Eagles.

“We’re not thinking about the big picture and not thinking about the next step. I hope this is opening the team’s eyes a little bit about everything that goes into it,” DeFord said. “Non-league wraps up this week, and we’ll get into SPSL games next week. This week, I want our receive numbers to get up — we’ve been passing really low as a team. That’s a big focus for us. We also want to cut out unforced errors.”

Additionally, DeFord highlighted several Tornados that’ve stepped up throughout the non-league action.

“Lilly Grant is always solid in the front row for us. Rylan Beaudin has stepped up really well the last couple of games, which is great,” DeFord said. “We’ll continue working to clean some things up. The girls are bouncing back well. To play poorly and then bounce back the next day, where we saw significant improvements, was huge.”

Following the first SPSL games of the season against Emerald Ridge and Graham-Kapowsin, the Tornados will hit the road for a 7 p.m. matchup on Tuesday, Sept. 30, against Olympia High School, and again at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 2, at Puyallup High School against the Vikings.