Photos by Samantha Davis. The Wabasso volleyball celebrates after a point against Yellow Medicine East Thursday night in the non-conference season opener match. The Rabbits beat the Sting 3-0. Below: Wabasso middle hitter Camryn Irlbeck goes in for a kill against Yellow Medicine East Thursday night.

GRANITE FALLS — In both teams’ season opener, the Wabasso volleyball team locked in defensively to secure a win over Yellow Medicine East in straight sets of 25-11, 25-12 and 25-20 Thursday night in a non-conference matchup.

“I am so ready. I think we’re all ready, we’ve been working so hard this preseason,” Wabasso senior Leah Mathiowetz said. “I do think it’s going to pay off, and we are hoping to go really far this year.”

A team total of 32 digs and 13 blocks, along with 35 set assists from Sara Carlson, helped Wabasso surge past the Sting the first two sets, and fight back from adversity in the third.

YME responded with some third-set momentum with a 6-0 start, electrifying the home crowd. But, Wabasso began to find its rhythm back after a timeout and never let the Sting take the lead again once the Rabbits earned it back.

“I think our defense was great, I think we just know where to go,” Mathiowetz said. “Even if we lost the ball, we just figured it out where we needed to go and eventually got to move that.”

Returning Wabasso libero Audrey Johnson led with a team-high 17 digs and five ace serves, while Britta Brand added 10.

Carly Fenger led the Rabbits’ offense with 10 kills, while Kenley Guetter and Camryn Irlbeck finished with eight and seven respectively.

Mathiowetz did a little bit of everything, finishing with nine kills, five digs and four blocks, three of which were assisted. Guetter also had four assisted blocks.

“It feels great … They were pumped up, and they’re ready to go,” Wabasso head coach Barb Johnson said of the season-opening win. “I was really, really happy with our block today. There were a few times where I was like, ‘Wow, they’re really up there.’ They did a great job of setting up the defense.”

Wabasso is coming off a 16-10 overall 2024 run, and is led by Johnson in her 16th season. The Rabbits were also ranked No. 10 in the Class A preseason poll by the Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association after earning the four-seed in the Section 3A North bracket last year.

YME, who returned nearly its entire roster this year, is looking to use its experience to better its 2024 campaign of 6-19 with Arei Stokes in her second season as head coach.

“When you’re playing a very good-caliber team like Wabasso, there’s jitters … But, it’s just fun to be back in game time,” Stokes said. “Credit to Wabasso. They are a very, very good team and their libero [Audrey Johnson] is amazing … They’re big block. A lot of [my] girls are playing in positions they’ve never played in, so they’re adjusting.”

Wabasso jumped to a 6-1 lead in the first set to set the tone early, which it quickly extended to 10-2 and forced Stokes to call a timeout.

The Rabbits’ front-row defense held up strong with a handful of blocks to help Wabasso finish the opening match on a 15-9 run, for a 25-11 set win.

“[I’m] trying to teach them, like use the block. You know you’re getting blocked, you’ve gotten blocked once or twice, hit it hard into them, get it out of bounds, push it off them,” Stokes said of how the team tried to manage Wabasso’s defense. “It’s really just getting those girls comfortable with understanding that we are going to play teams that have big blocks, teaching adjustments, and it’s going to come.”

Much like the first, Wabasso jumped to a 7-1 lead to open the second game.

YME scored three consecutive points off two Rabbits’ errors and an Alana Almich kill to climb back within 7-4, and stayed within reach until Wabasso earned a string of points when Stokes called a timeout down 18-9.

“That’s [errors] just kind of early season things that we will work on, but overall, I was really happy,” coach Johnson said.

With Wabasso’s back-row defense stepping up to prevent YME’s attack attempts, the Rabbits ended the set with a Mathiowetz kill to bring the game into shutout territory.

The Sting opened the final set with more intensity with their six straight unanswered points, some of which came from a pair of assisted blocks in the front row, a Wabasso attacking error and a Bayli Sneller kill, when coach Johnson called a timeout to regroup her team.

“I really told them in the timeout, I said, ‘Girls, the last two games are done and gone … I need you guys to come out here, I need energy from the bench. I need you guys to do anything that you need to do, and biggest and most of all, swing,'” Stokes said. “We get into momentum switches. I mean, that’s the game of volleyball, game of runs. But, they know they have the capability now … In game three, they really, really believed in themselves, which was so good to see.”

Following the reset, the Rabbits fought back within a point, down 8-7, and a Carly Fenger kill tied the match up at 8.

Following a Wabasso 10-3 run to build up an 18-11 edge, YME continued to stay in reach earning back a few points.

After the Sting scored 2 points, Brand hit a kill to halt any more momentum from starting again before the Rabbits came within three of match point.

“I think it was a good challenge [in the third set],” Mathiowetz said. “Going into the third one, we were like, ‘They [YME] are going to come back much stronger, like they are here to play.’ I think it was good competition for us, and it was a good way to start the season.”

Although a Sneller kill and Almich ace serve, Wabasso ended the game and saved the win with the help of a Mathiowetz kill and Sting overserve.

“Sometimes in these matches when you win by a lopsided win, sometimes the girls kind of let down for a little bit, and I think that’s kind of what they did that first part [of the third set],” coach Johnson said. “So, I was really happy with the way they came back.”

Wabasso (1-0) will next have its home opener when it hosts Lakeview on Tuesday with a 7 p.m. first serve.

“This win was really important for us for our section seeding, because we don’t get to play a lot of section teams,” coach Johnson said. “I stressed that to the girls, and I was really happy with the way they came to play.”

Yellow Medicine East (0-1) will next hit the road to Hancock, also at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

“We played a very, very fun five setter last year [against Hancock]. We ended up taking it in five sets, so I’m looking forward to a really good game,” Stokes said. “My biggest thing is, don’t get down. You got to get high, and stay there. We’re working on it, and it shows the maturity that we have developed.”