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- South O’Brien at MVAOCOU Triangular, 2. Cherokee at Sheldon Early-Bird Tournament 3. Kingsley-Pierson at MMCRU
South O’Brien Drops Two At MVAOCOU Triangular
MAPLETON — The South O’Brien volleyball team finished a busy week playing in a triangular at MVAOCOU on Thursday, but it wasn’t on a high-note as the Wolverines dropped matches to Westwood 15-25, 25-22, 9-15, and the host Rams 15-25, 25-21, 9-15.
“We got off to a prolonged start. We gave up the first eight points with unforced errors. This isn’t part of the plan. Our kids battled back and fought hard, but we dug ourselves into a deep hole and couldn’t regain momentum to win set one. Set two was a different story and the girls played much better. Passing was improved both on serve reception and free balls so we were able to set up our offense much better and finished on a positive note with momentum going into a third and deciding set. Having the drive to push through and finish has been a struggle at the beginning of the season. We fell short with more unforced errors in set three.”
Amy Schmidt, South O’Brien head volleyball coach
The night began with MVAOCOU improving to 2-0 in the all-time series dating back to to a meeting in Paullina last season.
The Wolverines were looking for their first match of the season. However they finished with five fewer kills (28-23), and a kill efficiency less than that of MVAOCOU. South O’Brien’s kill efficiency was .099, and the host Rams had a .177 kill efficiency for the match.
Marley Spott led MVAOCOU with eight kills, tying the Wolverines’ Reagan Plagge for match-high honors. Chloe Hustedt and Taylor Wulf had six and five kills for South O’Brien.
Ashlynn Gunnerson lofted 19 of the Wolverine’s 20 assists. Irelynne McNamara and Ava Kovarna each had 11 assists for the Rams.
(Photo above): South O’Brien’s Taylor Wulf pushes the ball to the MVAOCOU side of the net in the MVAOCOU Triangular on Thursday in Mapleton. Wulf finished with five kills and 11 digs. Photo by Roy Tucker, Tucker Photo. See more action photos on the Tucker Photo website at: https://rtphoto.photoreflect.com
“Chloe and Raegan played well offensively for us. We need to be smart at the net, knowing when to keep the ball in play safely and when to put it away. Chloe, Taylor, and Addi Hedberg were all solid defensively and came up with some big defensive plays. Reese, Addi, Ashlynn, and Taylor were solid at the serving line. We struggle with getting a jumpstart and then pushing through to the end.”
Amy Schmidt, South O’Brien head vollwyball coach
South O’Brien finished with seven fewer service attempts than MVAOCOU, finishing 45-for-49 with three aces for 91.8 percent. The Rams finished 54-for-58 with six aces for 93.1 percent.
With Westwood’s win over South O’Brien, the Rebels improves to 2-0 all-time against the Wolverines dating back to August of last season.
“”Coming off a tough loss, we got the jump start we needed and played very well in set one. We served pretty decent overall in set one, but we weren’t as aggressive as what we needed to be to win set two. It was a battle back and forth, but we didn’t make good enough choices to keep the serve and score when it was needed most.”
Amy Schmidt, South O’Brien head volleyball coach
Too many attack errors continue to be an issue for South O’Brien, as they finished with yet another negative kill efficiency of -.012 against Westwood. In only one of the Wolverines five matches this season have they had a kill efficiency higher than .000 for the match. They finished with 14 attack errors to just 13 kills against Westwood.
Reagan Plagge finished with four kills to lead South O’Brien. Junior Brenna Johnson led Westwood with 11 of her team’s total of 28. The Rebels finished with a kill efficiency of .150 for the match.
“Raegan led us offensively, while Chloe stepped up once again on defense and led us in the dig category. Brenna Johnson hurt us out of the OH position. She was able to put the ball where we weren’t and even though we made adjustments, she did as well. We need to do better with more consistent play out of every player. Making smart choices offensively, we help to minimize some of our errors and puts us in a situation where we can win.”
Amy Schmidt, South O’Brien head volleyball coach
Ashlynn Gunnerson finished with 11 of the 13 assists for South O’Brien. Wulf led in digs with 16 and Hustedt wound up with 12.
Westwood struggled with nine service errors in the match, finishing with a service percentage of 84.2 percent. South O’Brien for the fourth match this season was better than 90 percent, finishing at 91.5 percent (43-for-47) with nine aces. For the season, the Wolverines are serving 90.9 percent (190-209).
Three Wolverines finished 90 percent or batter against Westwood. Reese Farquhar was 9-for-9 with three aces. Plagge was 8-for-8 with two aces. Addison Hedberg finished 10-for-11 (90.9%) with two aces.
“Unfortunately, we lost Chloe to a bad ankle sprain when she came down from a block and got tangled up with Raegan. I thought Lindsey did a good job of stepping into the OH position for us, especially since she hadn’t seen playing time up to this point in the night. We hope to bounce back against Harris-Lake Park on Tuesday.”
Amy Schmidt, South O’Brien head volleyball coach
South O’Brien 15 – 25 – 9
MVAOCOU 25 – 21 – 15
South O’Brien Record: 0-4 | MVAOCOU Record: 1-0
South O’Brien Statistics
Assists (20) — Ashlynn Gunnerson 19, Farquhar 1.
Kills (23 | Kill Eff: .099) — Reagan Plagge 8, Chloe Hustedt 6, Taylor Wulf 5, Tori Schueller 3, Reese Farquhar 1.
Digs (60) — Hustedt 18, Wulf 11, Addison Hedberg 10, Farquhar 8, Abby Nelson 5, Gunnerson 4, Tori Schueller 3, Plagge 1.
Blocks (3) — Farquhar 1.0 (2 A), Plagge 1.0 ( 2 A), Wulf 0.5 (1 A), Schueller 0.5 (1 A).
Serving (Mininum 7 attempts): (45-49 91.8% 3 aces) — Gunnerson 7-7 (100%), Hedberg 14-15 (93.3%), Farquhar 11-12 91.7% 2 aces.
South O’Brien 25 – 22 – 9
Westwood 15 – 25 – 25
South O’Brien Record: 0-5 | Westwood Record: 1-0
South O’Brien Statistics
Assists (13) — Ashlynn Gunnerson 11, Farquhar 1, Lindsey Einck 1.
Kills (13 | Kill Eff: -.012) — Reagan Plagge 4, Taylor Wulf 3, Tori Schueller 3, Einck 2, Chloe Hustedt 1.
Digs (65) — Wulf 16, Hustedt 12, Addison Hedberg 8, Farquhar 7, Gunnerson 6, Abby Nelson 5, Ashley Halvorson 4, Einck 3, Schueller 2, Plagge 1, Abby Woodall 1.
Blocks (3) — Hustedt 1.0 (1 S), Plagge 0.5 (1 A), Gunnerson 0.5 (1 A), Farquhar 0.5 (1 A), Schueller 0.5 (1 A).
Serving (Mininum 7 attempts): (43-47 91.5% 9 aces) — Farquhar 9-9 100% 3 aces, Plagge 8-8 (100%) 2 aces, Hedberg (10-11 2 aces 90.9%).
Cherokee opens season with 3-0 match record at Sheldon Earlybird Tournament
SHELDON — 3 Up, 3 Down, as the Cherokee volleyball team came away with an unblemished 3-0 match record at the Sheldon Tournament on Thursday.
The Braves opened the 2024 season ranked eighth in Class 3A by Iowa Prep Illustrated, and ninth in IGHSAU rankings. Cherokee started off strong with a 2-0 (21-10, 21-13) victory over LeMars Gehlen.
Cherokee is talented from the top to bottom of its roster. Leading the way are senior outside hitters Laney Wolfswinkel and Keylee Gregg, and setter Elise Anderson.
Against the Gehlen Jays, Cherokee had an sparkling .396 kill efficiency with only two errors, finishing with a team total of 21 kills. The sister duo of Lainey and Addy Wolfswinkel each finished with five kills. Anderson accounted for 14 of the Braves 23 assists, while seven belonged to Addy Wolfswinkel.
Lainey Wolfswinkel also led Cherokee with 10 digs, and was one of three Braves who have a perfect performance in serving. She finished 9-for-9 with one ace. Addy Wolfswinkel was 8-for-8 with an ace, and Macy Gravenish finished 7-fot-7. The Braves finished 38-for-40 with five aces overall.
Rysaiah Sitzman and Aurora Goebel each had five kills for Gehlen, who finished with 15 kills as a squad, and a .111 kill efficiency. Addi Castle finished with seven assists.
After coming out and dropping the first set in their next match to LeMars 15-21, Cherokee roared back and won the final two sets in dominant fashion 21-7, 15-3. It was the third consecutive match win in the all-time series against the Bulldogs. The Braves have won 11 of the last 13 matches going back to August of 2018.
Defensively, Cherokee played well at the net and handling of serve reception. LeMars finished with a kill efficiency of only .055, committing 11 errors, and serve to a 87.9 percentage (29-for-33) with only two aces.
Cherokee is proving to have its own “Prime-Time” in Lainey Wolfswinkel. She led Cherokee with six kills, digs with 15, and finished 17-for-17 with five aces in serving.
Three other Braves had five kills each in Deidra Doeden, Gregg, and Addy Wolfswinkel. Cherokee finished with 23 kills and an .169 efficiency. LeMars was not knowing whether they were coming or going, whom to attempt to block defensively at the net.
It was Anderson and Addy Wolfswinkel again leading in assists as the senior had 12, and sophomore nine, respectively.
LeMars senior Aubree Leusink tied Anderson for match honors with 12 assists. Seniors Holly McNaughton and Alexa Wurth finished with five and four kills, respectively to lead the Bulldogs.
As a team, LeMars finished under 90 percent serving, finishing 29-for-33 with two aces.
Cherokee hammered the host Orabs pretty good in their final match, winning 21-15, 21-5. It marks the fourth consecutive match win for the Braves against Sheldon in the all-time series. However, Sheldon still leads all-time 15-9 in match win going back to October 2007.
Sheldon post minimal numbers against the Braves, finishing with six assists, eight kills, and a -.179 efficiency. The only thing the Orabs did with a positive outcome was serving 18-for-20 (90%).
Cherokee finished will a kill efficiency of .219, adding 13 kills. They were led by Addy Wolfswinkel with six. Anderson had six assists, Gregg had six digs and was a perfect 8-for-8 in serving. Cherokee finished 33-for-36 (91.7%) with five aces.
More importantly they have established momentum going into the weekend tournament at Unity Christian.
LeMars Gehlen 10 – 13
Cherokee 21 – 21
LeMars Gehlen Record: 0-1 | Cherokee Record: 1-0
Cherokee Statistics
Assists (23) — Elise Anderson 14, Addy Wolfswinkel 7, Ava Bouchard 1, Laney Wolfswinkel 1.
Kills (21 | Kill Eff: .396) — L. Wolfswinkel 5, A. Wolfswinkel 5, Deidra Doeden 4, Keylee Gregg 3, Kadyn Volkert 2, Macy Gravenish 1.
Digs (32) — L. Wolfswinkel 10, Gregg 7, A. Wolfswinkel 4, Anderson 4, Kendyl Fox 3, Gravenish 3, Bouchard 1.
Blocks (4) — Doeden 1.5 (1 S, 1 A), Gregg 1.0 (1 S), L. Wolfswinkel 0.5 (1 A), Anderson 0.5 (1 A), Volkert 0.5 (1 A).
Serving (Mininum 7 attempts): (38-40 95% 5 aces) — L. Wolfswinkel 9-9 (100%) 1 ace, A. Wolfswinkel 8-8 (100%) 1 ace, Gravenish 7-7 (100%).
Cherokee 15 – 21 – 15
LeMars 21 – 7 – 3
Cherokee Record: 2-0 | LeMars Record: 0-1
Cherokee Statistics
Assists (21) — Elise Anderson 12, Addy Wolfswinkel 9.
Kills (23 | Kill Eff: .169) — Laney Wolfswinkel 6, A. Wolfswinkel 5, Deidra Doeden 5, Keylee Gregg 5, Kadyn Volkert 1, Anderson 1.
Digs (40) — L. Wolfswinkel 15, Gregg 7, A. Wolfswinkel 7, Kendyl Fox 36, Anderson 3, Gravenish 2.
Blocks (0) — NA
Serving (Mininum 7 attempts): (43-44 97.7% 7 aces) — L. Wolfswinkel 17-17 (100%) 5 aces, A. Wolfswinkel 11-11 (100%) 2 aces, Doeden 8-8 (100%).
Cherokee 21 – 21
Sheldon 15 – 5
Cherokee Record: 3-0 | Sheldon Record: 2-1
Cherokee Statistics
Assists (10) — Elise Anderson 6, Addy Wolfswinkel 3, Keylee Gregg 1.
Kills (13 | Kill Eff: .219) — A. Wolfswinkel 6, Deidra Doeden 2, Gregg 2, Laney Wolfswinkel 1, Macy Gravenish 1, Anderson 1.
Digs (20) — Gregg 6, A. Wolfswinkel 3, L. Wolfswinkel 3, Anderson 2, Doeden 2, Kendyl Fox 1, Ava Bouchard 1.
Blocks (2.0) — Gregg 0.5 (1 A), L. Wolfswinkel 0.5 (1 A), Gravenish 0.5 (1 A), Doeden 0.5 (1 A).
Serving (Mininum 7 attempts): (33-36 91.7% 5 aces) — Gregg 8-8 (100%), A. Wolfswinkel 10-11 (90.9%) 1 ace, L. Wolfswinkel 7-8 (87.5%) 2 aces.
MMCRU Battles Kingsley-Pierson in Four Set Loss
MARCUS — The MMCRU volleyball team came out firing Thursday, building a five point lead, behind a 7-to-1 run in the opening set. There were four ties. Following a 12-12 tie, Kingsley-Pierson stole set one, outscoring the Royals the remainder of the way 13-5 to take the win.
It was opening night to the 2024 volleyball season, as well as being MMCRU home opener.
Kingsley-Pierson spoiled the non-conference matchup winning in four sets 3-1. Set scores were 25-17, 25-17, 20-25 and 25-15. The Panthers win ends a six match winning streak by MMCRU in the all-time series dating back to August 2019.
MMCRU succumb to an 8-0 Kingsley-Pierson run to end the second set, after MMCRU had cut the Royals deficit in set two to one point 11-10, and again at 14-13. The third set saw MMCRU build a six point advantage 10-4 against the Panthers and close out the set with a win on a Lana Florine kill.
The fourth and final set was witness to a 7-0 Kingsley-Pierson run to hand MMCRU its first double-digit deficit of the evening (18-8). The largest deficit was at 23-10. MMCRU was going down without a fight, forcing five match points in the fourth set.
“We allowed them (K-P) to keep the momentum and just couldn’t retain the ball long enough to shrink the leads that they would get on us. We were not able to capitalize when we had the ball. Too be honest, we did not pass well. Most of our passes were either at or behind the 10′ line. This was not advantageous for our setters which led to an out of system hit or tip by our hitters. KP was able to play great defense to dig up those easy hits and they covered tips well.”
Heather Youde, MMCRU head volleyball coach
The Royals began last season dropping eight of its first 10 matches of the season, and hope to reverse that trend in 2024.
MMCRU finished with a negative kill efficiency of -.022, its third consecutive match dating match to last season. The Royals had 31 kills against Kingsley-Pierson, led by Chloe Alesch’s 14. Alesch was also credited with six digs in the match, and finished 13-of-14 with two ace (92.9%) in serving.
Tia Tentinger and Kyle Harpenau finished with 15 and 10 assists, respectively. Senior Breanna Staab led the way in digs with 20.
“We need to work on passing the ball and communicating with each other. There was a huge lack of communication which led to a lot of bad passing and confusion. Once we clean those two things up, I am confident we can get the ball rolling again.”
Heather Youde, MMCRU head volleyball coach
MMCRU (0-1) will host Akron-Westfield (1-1) in Remsen on Tuesday (Sept. 3).
Kingsley-Pierson 25 – 25 – 20 – 25
MMCRU 17 – 15 – 25 – 15
Kingsley-Pierson Record: 1-0 | MMCRU Record: 0-1
MMCRU Statistics
Assists (28) — Tia Tentinger 15, Kylie Harpenau 10, Chloe Alesch 2, Sadie Youde 1.
Kills (31 | Kill Eff: -.022) — Alesch 14, Aleah Lux 4, Brielle Lux 4, Tentinger 4, Lana Florine 3, Breanna Staab 1, Deanna Partridge 1.
Digs (56) — Staab 20, Youde 9, Alesch 6, Florine 6, Tentinger 6, B. Lux 4, Harpenau 4, A. Lux 1.
Blocks (4) — A. Lux 1.5 (3 A), Gracie Schroeder 0.5 (1 A), Alesch 0.5 (1 A), Partridge 0.5 (1 A), B. Lux 0.5 (1 A), Tentinger 0.5 (1 A).
Serving (Mininum 7 attempts): (66-73 90.4% 5 aces) — Staab 8-8 (100%), Alesch 13-14 2 aces (92.9%), Youde 12-13 (92.3%), B. Lux 9-10 1 ace (90%), Tentinger 16-18 1 ace (88.9%), Harpenau 8-10 1 ace (80%).
