Comets go 5-1 at Charles City Volleyball Tournament

Staff Report

CHARLES CITY — Like most ball sports, only one can be in play at a time.

When the Comets faced Janesville on Saturday while hosting the Charles City Volleyball Tournament, it appeared they were going to gain an “ad-in” advantage during an extended second set.

The Comets had won the first set over the Class 1A top-ranked Wildcats, a team they had beaten the week before during a tournament in Cedar Falls.

In the second set, Janesville took an 18-10 lead before the Comets rallied back to tie it at 21.

Needing to win by two from that point to win the set and the best-of-three match, the Comets slapped in an apparent kill for the apparent 22nd point.

But due to a ball entering the court from an adjacent match, the play was waved off.

Eventually, Janesville won the second set, 23-21, and then took the third, 15-12.

The Comets later defeated South Winneshiek in straight sets to finish the day at 5-1. Junior Makayla Nierling came off the bench to lead the Comets (21-4) with five digs.

Other Charles City victories included a 2-1 match win over Wapsie Valley with junior Sydney Loeckle recording 24 assists and senior Katie Foster recording 14 digs; a straight-set win over Jesup where the Comets were 40 of 41 serving with five aces; a straight-set win over Tripoli with junior Tayler Schmidt recording eight kills; and a 21-11, 21-19 win over Oelwein, with Sara Martin slapping in two aces.

Janesville went 6-0 during the tournament.

Charles City will travel to Osage tonight for a makeup match against the Green Devils, then will host Northeast Iowa Conference foe Waukon on Tuesday.