The Pella volleyball team navigated a tough field of opponents to find a winning record at the Southeast Polk tournament Saturday.

Pella defeated Urbandale 2-1 (14-21, 21-7, 15-10), Marshalltown 2-0 (21-14, 21-14), and #11 in 2A Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 2-0 (25-21, 25-13), and fell 2-1 in close match to #3 in 4A ADM (19-25, 25-19, 12-15) and #4 in 5A Waukee Northwest (14-21, 10-21).

Head Coach Sam Sheldon is excited with the improvements the team is making.

“I am really proud of how the girls played. We were able to learn more about our team and in our last match against ADM, showed ourselves that we can be right there and play with some of the best in our class. Our confidence grew throughout the day and that showed in their level of play on the court. We are all excited to get back into practice to train and then let it show in competition. We’re still improving and getting better and the girls have fully embraced that. Could not ask for more as a coach right now,” she said.

Katie Scheckel had 24 kills and 11 service aces, Sydney Namminga added 20 kills, and Hunter Hughell tallied 43 assists.

Pella improves to 8-5 overall and heads to Pella Christian Tuesday.