Malden Green Wave pick up home victory over Oran volleyball in straight sets

Sophomore Carsyn Cohen hits over an Oran blocker in the final set of Malden’s 3-0 victory against the Eagles.

Photo by Kaelin Triggs, Delta Dunklin Democrat.

MALDEN, Mo. - Malden Green Wave hosted the Oran Eagles in volleyball on Monday, Sep. 23.

The Green Wave were able to pick up a three set victory over Oran to start off the week of play.

They are now on a two game winning streak after beating Twin Rivers in four sets on Thursday, Sep. 19. This extended their season record to 5-9-1.

Malden won set one with a commanding 25-14 victory over Oran. This set the tone for the rest of the match.

Junior Hestania Jackson led the way for Malden with two kills in the first set. She also had a few digs which resulted in three successful passes.

The second set was a lot closer. After an early deficit, Oran battled back and put the match with two points.

Despite Oran’s efforts, Malden held the Eagles off with a 25-23 win in set two. According to Malden’s head coach Jennifer Sokolova, she just had to remind her players to stay aggressive in the middle set.

“I just tell them they need to tighten up,” Sokolova said. “Sometimes they get in that mindset where they want to be funny and silly. But after taking the first set, I told them Oran is going to come out wanting it because they have nothing to lose. You do have something to lose.”

Carsyn Cohen put down four kills while Mikalyn Vipperman had three kills in the second set to help secure the 25-23 win. Khyrie Mathies aided in this effort in set two with five assists and 19 passes to run the offenses and give Malden a 2-0 advantage.

The third set saw a lot of fight from the Eagle’s in an attempt to prevent the sweep. However, Malden was able to carry away with a 25-17 victory. Cohen aided with four kills and three digs in the third set along with a serving ace. Along with Cohen, Jackson added three kills of her own.Senior setter Mariah Loyah had five assists in the final set while Mathies added three assists and two aces.

Sokolova was pleased to pick up their second win in a row and to start off this three game week with a victory.

“Our girls communicated well,” Sokolova said. “They moved around the court and they got their hits in which we’ve been practicing because they struggled in that area.”

With this win, the Green Wave now sit in third place for their Class 2 District 1 MSHSAA assignment. Portageville is in first with 19 wins and only three dropped matches, while Senath-Hornersville sits right above Malden with the same record of 5-9.

This was the first of three home games this week for Malden. They will host Kelly on Tuesday and Bloomfield on Thursday to finish out their five game home stance.

Monday, Sep. 30, they will travel to Puxico for an away match.