Regional Volleyball Results, Monday, October 25th
South Central Calhoun At Kuemper- Class 2A Region 5 Semifinals
Kuemper 3
South Central Calhoun 0
25-21, 25-12, 25-23
Kuemper serve was the difference as the Knights advance to the Regional Final on Wednesday against Denver. South Central Calhoun battled and blocked well against an outstanding hitting Knights team and nearly took the third set, up 22-19. Kuemper finished with 11 aces but that didn’t tell the whole story of their serve. They were able to keep South Central Calhoun scrambling and out-of-system forcing the Titans to lose the aggressiveness they started the match with.
The Titans came out the more aggressive team at the net, swinging hard, with nothing to lose. Kuemper used their athletic middles on slides to get them away from the good middle block of South Central Calhoun. The early part of set one went back and forth with each teams grabbing the lead before Kuemper went ahead for good at 6-5. The set had five ties and two lead changes. Kuemper looked to gain the momentum and went ahead 16-10 but South Central Calhoun serve started giving Kuemper some issues and the Knights had a few hitting errors. South Central Calhoun cut the deficit to 17—16 on an ace by Keira Hammen. They tied the set at 17 but Frannie Glynn kept the Knights in front with one of her 11 kills. Riley Batta, led the Titans with 12 kills, 6 of them in the first set as she tied the set again at 18. Kuemper went back up two before the Titans rallied again and Brenna McAlister tied the set at 20 with a kill. The veteran Knights settled in after that, scoring five of the last six points and Kenzie Schon who came on strong midway through set one ended it with a kill.
The loss in set one took the wind out of the sales of the Titans early in set two and Kuemper took advantage, getting ahead 3-0. The Titans trimmed it to 3-2 but that is as close as they would get. The Knights served very well and quickly pulled away, getting up 8-3 and 16-6. The Titans were down 22-7 but showed a little bit of life in late cutting a 22-7 deficit to 24-12 before Kaci Peter ended the set with one of her 7 kills.
South Central Calhoun came out fighting again in set three, showing the growth of this young team from the beginning of the season. They started the set with a 3-1 lead but weren’t able to maintain it as Kuemper rallied to go up 5-4. The Knights were able to mix things at the net and Sophie Badding was running the slide well. Kuemper went ahead 9-6 but South Central Calhoun rallied again, tying the set at 16 and taking a lead on a Keira Hammen ace. The Titans used a 7-0 run to pull ahead 20-16. Kuemper called a timeout and the veteran club answered the challenge. Kuemper scored the first point out of the timeout and pulled withing 21-19. The Titans went back up three but didn’t score again until they trailed. Kuemper went on a 5-0 run, picking up match point, leading 24-22. The Titans staved off one match point but weren’t able to get the ball over the net in three hits and the Knights advanced with a sweep.
Kuemper was balanced at the net with Frannie Glynn and Kenzie Schon each with 11 kills, Kaci Peter added 7 kills and Sophie Badding finished with 6 kills. Ashlyn Badding was outstanding spreading the ball around and tracking down balls behind the 10-foot line, finishing with 36 assists. The Kuemper serve was strong with Kenya Prescott leading the way with 4 aces, Ashlyn Badding and Kaci Peter each had 2 aces. Kenya Prescott led the back row with 10 digs and Kamryn Venner added 5 digs.
Riley Batta was tremendous at the net for South Central Calhoun. She finished with 12 kills to lead all hitters and made several incredible swings against a good blocking Kuemper team. Brenna McAlister added 5 kills and Keira Hammen finished with 3 kills. Jayci Graeve had to chase the ball a lot at setter and finished with 17 assists. Keira Hammen led the Titans with 3 aces. Kylee Schleisman had a team high 6 digs, Riley Batta and Brenna McAlister each had 5 digs. Keira Hammen and Riley Batta each had 3 blocks at the Titans out blocked the Knights 8-1.
The win improves Kuemper to 26-10 as they travel to Webster City to play Denver on Wednesday in the Regional Final. Denver improved to 35-7 with a 3-0 win over Aplington Parkersburg. South Central Calhoun ends the season at 22-18. The Kuemper Vs Denver match will be broadcast on 93.7 KKRL with prematch coverage around 6:45 and first serve at 7:00.
Kuemper Stats
Ashlyn Badding 1 Kill, 36 Assists, 3 Digs, 2 Aces
Kamryn Venner 4 Kills, 5 Digs
Frannie Glynn 11 Kills
Kenzie Schon 11 Kills, Dig
Kaci Peter 7 Kills, Ace, Block
Sophie Badding 6 Kills, 2 Aces, Block
Avarie Pedelty 2 Digs
Kenya Prescott 2 Assists, 10 Digs, 4 Aces
Macy Simons 2 Aces
South Central Calhoun Stats
Kylee Schleisman 1 Assist, 6 Digs
Riley Batta 12 Kills, 5 Digs, 3 Blocks
Sayer Steig 1 Assist, Ace, Dig
Brenna McAlister 5 Kills, 5 Digs, Block
Jayci Graeve 2 Kills, 17 Assists, Dig
Mollie Monnahan 1 Kill, Block
Keira Hammen 3 Kills, 4 Digs, 3 Blocks, 3 Aces
Norah Riedesel 1 Kill, 3 Digs
East Sac At Ridge View- Class 2A Region 1 Semifinals
Ridge View 3
East Sac 1
25-14, 20-25, 25-21, 25-19
East Sac fought a tough match against Ridge View in the Class 2A Region 1 semifinals, but fell short of making the regional finals Monday night.
Set one had moments where the Raiders shined and stayed close with the Raptors. East Sac started off down 6-3 early, but came back to tie it at 7-7. Past that tie, the Raptors were able to get out ahead of East Sac and take set one 25-14. Set two went much better for the Raiders as they grabbed an early lead and stayed confident in their offensive attacks. A big playmaker in set two was MaKenna Meyer who got on a stretch of getting kills. The Raptors kept the start of the set close by tying the set at 5-5, but it was the Raiders who got out ahead. The Raiders got up 16-9 at one point and kept swinging even when the Raptors tied it at 16-16. After a close and long set, East Sac was able to end it with a set win at 25-20.
Set three was another longer set for both teams with East Sac continuing to stay atop of Ridge View at times. This set had plenty of ties, eight to be exact, with East Sac tying it up at 18-18 late. The Raptors had a late 6-0 run to get up 24-18 and were about to take the set when East Sac held on to cut down that Raptor lead to 24-21. Despite a strong comeback late, the Raiders were unable to put away Ridge View as the Raptors ended the set at 25-21. East Sac’s Kate Vondrak and Meyer had good looks throughout the night and were keeping their team alive in these sets, even when Ridge View was swinging themselves. Set four started off well for East Sac as they got out to a 2-0 start and stayed close with Ridge View with a 12-12 tie. The Raptors gained momentum past that 12-point tie as they went on a 8-1 run to get up 20-13. East Sac themselves had a late set tie to hold off the set win for Ridge View at 24-19, but the Raptors played a tough ball that the Raiders were unable to send over, giving Ridge View the 25-19 set victory and the match win. East Sac’s season will come to an end with a final record of 21-8. As a team, East Sac had 38 kills, 17 digs, and six aces on the night, with Meyer recording four of those aces.
East Sac Stats
Jen Aschinger 5 Digs
Mary Bontrager 1 Kill, 14 Assists, 2 Digs, Ace
MaKenna Meyer 9 Kills, 3 Digs, 4 Aces
Meredith Brown 5 Kills, Dig, 2 Blocks
Carly Fischer 2 Kills, Dig
Kate Vondrak 14 Kills, Assist, 3 Digs, Block
Paige Wunschel 4 Kills, 16 Assists, Dig, Ace