BENTON CITY - The Warden Cougars volleyball team lost a tough match to the Kiona-Benton Bears Tuesday night.

The Cougars lost in straight sets (11-25, 18-25, 22-25) falling to 0-2 overall and 0-1 in South Central Athletic Conference play.

Head coach Dennis Treat is having to adjust to fielding a young and inexperience team this season. Treat explained the volleyball team graduated eight seniors last year and two girls who would've likely started decided not to play this year.

"We are a young team," he said. "We only have one returning varsity player who saw significant time last year."

Libero Ashley Martinez led Warden with 22 digs and Emily Pruneda added 17 digs and seven assists. Allycia Gonzales and Shania Kisler and six kills and three kills respectively.

Kisler, the lone returning starter, has helped the less experienced players transition to varsity competition.

"Shania has a good understanding of the game," Treat said. "That's probably the best way to describe her."

Treat plans to work on shot selection during practice. The Cougars had trouble serving the ball away from Kiona-Benton's talented libero and spiked the ball when a softer shot would have been more effective.

"If the set isn't there it's not going to do any good to blast it out of bounds or blast it into the net," Treat said.

The Cougars will try to get in the win column Thursday at home against River View.

"We're just looking to improve and see if we can find ways to make ourselves more competitive," Treat said.