Jackson County Central hosted a five-team volleyball scrimmage Saturday, using both the main and auxiliary gyms at JCC High School.
The Huskies hosted Big South Conference West Division and Section 3AA South Sub-Section rivals Pipestone and Redwood Valley, Minnewaska Area from the North Sub-Section of Section 3AA and Southwest Minnesota Christian from Section 3A.
JCC has never hosted a scrimmage. Traditionally the Huskies have traveled to Hull to scrimmage with perennial Iowa powerhouse Western Christian, but in the Covid era that wasn't possible this year.
So the Huskies lined up the scrimmages and it was a good day as the teams scrimmaged from 10 a.m. until about 1 p.m. and they wrapped up the day with some serving games.
"I thought the girls played well as a team," said JCC coach Deidre Wierson. "That's huge for us. As the team chemistry builds, everything else on and off the court continues to keep pushing our team forward. "I saw a lot of nice things all around. We moved some people around to different spots for options and the girls responded well and really stay positive throughout the day."
The Huskies will be back in the gym for practice Monday, with the first match looming at the end of the week as the Big South Conference is held in St. James.
"We need to continue to get our serve receive reps and defensive reps down," Wierson said. "I feel that we have a really strong offense, but sometimes we play up and down. We need to keep our energy high and worry about the first contact, whether it be serving or the serve receive ball."
On Saturday, JCC meets the host Saints to close out the day.
"We have to remember to play our game and not worry about what they're doing on the other side of the net," Wierson commented. Just continue to keep pushing what we know as JCC volleyball."
Jackson County Central opens its home schedule vs. Heron Lake-Okabena on Tuesday, Aug. 31.
After a nonconference match at Spirit Lake on Thursday, Sept. 2, the BSC West Division opener is Tuesday, Sept. 7 at Redwood Valley.