Legendary Basketball Coach John Wooden always wanted his UCLA teams to play fast, but in control. “Be quick, but don’t hurry…” he would say. Knoxville Volleyball Coach Mollie Keitges is applying that to her team as the Panthers hit the home stretch of the regular season. Knoxville found itself back in the class 4A rankings published by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union at #14 this week. Keitges tells KNIA/KRLS Sports the girls have begun to play that quick tempo but not getting out of control.

Keitges: “Let’s keep it in control and when we slow it down we play better and faster, and they’re talking and playing at a higher level.”

One of Knoxville’s struggles early in the season was serving. Keitges adds that showed a major improvement over the last week with the Panthers’ success at Boone last weekend, and their win over Cardinal. Knoxville will have a busy week this week hosting Centerville for Senior Night on Tuesday and traveling to the Pella Invitational on Saturday.