COUNCIL BLUFFS — Due to the recent death of her father, coach Yvonne Carson missed Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln’s eight volleyball matches last week.

The Lynx lost five of those eight matches. A.L. made a big step back in the right direction on its home court Thursday, downing Class 2-A state No. 4 Treynor 25-14, 25-22, 17-25, 25-14.

In the first match of the day, Treynor handled Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson 25-15, 25-18, 25-15.

When Carson rejoined her team for a Labor Day practice, they had a little heart-to-heart. She understood several of her team’s losses in a 2-4 effort at the powerful Bellevue Invitational, but a loss to St. Albert earlier in the week particularly troubled her. The Saintes returned few experienced players this season.

“We talked about attitude, we talked about mood and we talked about staying focused,’’ Carson said. “They have a problem with staying focused at times. I’ve really got to work with them on that.’’

A.L. (4-7) remains fourth in Class 4-A/3-A in The World-Herald’s latest set of western Iowa ratings. Treynor (6-1) remains third in the Class 2-A/1-A WI ratings. The western Iowa ratings reflect play through Wednesday night.

Other than a couple of instances, staying focused wasn’t a problem for Abraham Lincoln on Thursday. With setter Sierra Nighswonger, an NCAA Division II Arkansas Tech recruit, skillfully distributing the ball, A.L. displayed a balanced attack. Juniors Hannah Christensen and Michaela Kennedy led the way with 11 kills each, followed by sophomore Lauren Meeker (eight), freshman Victoria Krohn (seven) and senior Jordan Gillenwater (five).

“It showed tonight that we will hit from anywhere on the court,’’ Carson said. “We’re not a one-person team. And that makes us, I think, harder to play because you don’t know who’s going to get the ball.’’

For Treynor, it was a disappointing finish. But coach Janet Fiene knows that unlike some of her past teams, this one doesn’t have a great margin for error.

“We just never seemed to get into a rhythm passing, or get into the flow of the offense,’’ she said. “We’ve got a lot of things to improve upon on serve-receive. I’ve got a couple young-uns out there that are trying to fulfill some roles and got a little weak in the knees, I guess you might say.’’

After the Lynx won the opening set, Treynor held an 18-15 lead in set two. But A.L. rattled off seven straight points, and Meeker’s kill capped a long rally and gave the second set to the Lynx at 25-22.

Treynor offered its best stretch of the two matches in set three. Led by 6-foot-1 senior Kaitlin Floerchinger, who had a match-high 14 kills, the Cardinals led 8-0 and went on to force a fourth set. But A.L. sprinted to a 13-5 lead in that one and easily closed out the match.

After a trying past couple of weeks, Carson did find some comfort Thursday on the volleyball court.

“They came back in the fourth so I guess I should be happy,’’ Carson said. “They’re young, and I knew they’d make mistakes. What I want to see from here on out is just improvement. Because I believe if this team improves like they can, we’ll be in it at the end of the year.’’

Contact the writer:

444-1055, kevin.white@owh.com

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