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SIOUX CITY HEELAN — This past weekend took are school’s Ridge View and Cherokee to the limits at the highly competitive Heelan Invitational. The Raptors dropped four matches, losing five sets out of eight to opponents Cherokee 2-0, Sioux City Heelan (2-1), Sioux City North (2-1), and Unity Christian (2-1).
Scores for the Raptors match against Iowa Prep Illustrated’s Class 3A eighth-ranked Cherokee were 15-21, 13-21. Against the Class 4A second-ranked Crusaders of Heelan scores were 22-20, 5-21, 7-15. The North Stars and Raptors played three sets with scores results 19-21, 21-17, 10-15. Ridge View closes out play against Unity Christian falling 20-22, 23-21, 5-15.
The four losses leaves Ridge View with an overall 18-17 record heading into its Class 2A regional opener against East Sac County on Wednesday in Holstein.
Cherokee defeated Ridge View for the fifth consecutive meeting including a 2-0 (21-10, 21-9) win at the Cherokee Invitational on September 21.
The two teams were separated by just two kills with the Braves holding a 17 to 15 edge. Kill efficiency is where there was a significant difference between the teams. Ridge View finished with an .085 kill efficiency, while the Braves finished with a .244 efficiency. The Raptors leader was senior Sydney Blackmore with six kills. Leading Cherokee with a match-best nine kill was senior Laney Wolfswinkel.
Ridge View got the attention of Heelan defeating the Crusaders in the opening set of their match. But poking the ‘Heelan Bear’ wasn’t a good thing, as they stomped the Raptors in back-to-back lopsided outcomes in the second and third set.
Ridge View continued to struggled to get much offense going, as they finished with just 14 kills and a meager .043 kill efficiency. Ridge View was a minus -24 in kill margin (38-14) as the Crusaders finished with a kill efficiency of .280. Leading the way for Heelan was Addison Kleis and Maliyah Hacker each with nine kills. Blackmore was the Raptors leader once more with seven.
Ridge View did have a bright spot in the match finishing a flawless 35-for-35 in serving with five aces. Gabi Mason went 12-for-12 with three aces. Lilly Whitmer was 7-for-7 and Cadey Vohs finished 5-for-5 with two aces.
Maddie Lafleur lofted a match-best 26 assists for Heelan. Ireland Jackson posted a match-best 17 digs. LaFleur finished 15-for-16 serving. As a team, Heelan went 53-for-56 (94.6%) with four aces.
Sioux City North and Ridge View were meeting for the first time since the 2022 season when the Raptors came away with a 2-0 shutout victory. But, it remains North with a slight 3-2 edge in all-time meeting since October of 2010.
Blackmore tied the North Star’s ZaRyiah Van Buren for match-high honors with nine kills. Blackmore added a match-best 14 digs. She even had three assists and went 8-for-9 with two aces from the service line. Ridge View had another strong performance in serving against North, finishing 48-for-49 (98%) with eight aces. Gabi Mason was a perfect 15-for-15 with two aces. Leslie Avina was 7-for-7 with an ace.
The first two sets of the Raptors match with Unity Christian with highly contested before the Knights put away Ridge View in the third set. Unity Christian avenged a 2-0 loss from a season ago. That was the lone Raptors win against the Knights in 11 meetings all-time.
Blackmore proved she got better as the day went along. She posted 11 kills against Unity Christian and added 11 digs. Blackmore tied the Knight’s Jaida Barrow for match-high honors in kills. Jadyn Hofmeyer finished in double figures with 10 kills for Unity Christian, who posted a .202 kill efficiency.
Blackmore’s 33 kills in the tournament brings her season total to a team-best 217 kills for the season.
Braves finish with 2-2 record
Senior Laney Wolfswinkel got off on the right foot to start tournament play by posting a match-best nine kills against Ridge View. But, she also posted a perfect performance in serving by finishing 11-for-11 with two aces.
By taking care of Ridge View they began the tournament with a match win. Things only got tougher from there for the Braves.
The fourth ranked Crusaders in Class 4A came at Cherokee with an aggressive offense. Heelan racked up 22 kills to the Braves 13. Crusader’s senior Maliyah Hacker finished with a match-best nine kills and a robust .533 kill efficiency. Addy Wolfswinkel led Cherokee with five kills and a .357 kill efficiency in the loss.
Cherokee made it 2-0 against Sioux City North this season, having won a earlier meet (Sept. 12) 3-0. The Braves led the all-time series with Sioux City North 12-9 since the inception of the Bound Era in 2007.
North really struggled offensively. The North Stars had as many kill errors 12, as kills in the match. Serving the North Stars managed 25 attempts and was successful 92 percent of those attempts. In comparison Cherokee went 34-for-36 (4.4%) with seven aces. Macy Gravenish went 8-for-8 with a pair of aces. Addy Wolfswinkel was 12-for-13 with three aces, and Laney Wolfswinkel finished the match 9-for-10 with two aces.
Laney Wolfswinkel led Cherokee with seven kills and a .333 kill efficiency against North. She also posted a team-best three digs for the Braves.
Fourth-ranked Sioux Falls Jefferson (SD) came into the matchup against the Braves with a sparkling 15-2 record. Cherokee entered the match with a 2-0 record against out-of-state competition this season having picked up wins against Southwest Christian (MN) and Dakota Valley (SD).
The Braves finished the match against Sioux Falls Jefferson with 20 kills and a .208 kill efficiency. No other statistics were made available at time of release.
Cherokee returns to action tonight with a 26-7 overall match record. The Braves will be hosting Eagle Grove (3-15) in a Class 3A Region 6 quarterfinal.
Ridge View 22 – 5 – 7
Sioux City Heelan 20 – 21 – 15
Ridge View Record: 18-14 | Sioux City Heelan Record: 36-3
Ridge View Statistics
Assists (12) — Lilly Whitmer 12.
Kills (14 | Kill Eff: .043) — Sydney Blackmore 7, Naunika Crum 3, Claire Wandrey 2, Kiara Luscombe 1, Gabi Mason 1.
Digs (40) — Luscombe 8, Blackmore 8, Leslie Avain 6, Mason 6, Whitmer 4, Chloe Murphy 3, Crum 2, Cadey Vohs 1, Zoey Aschinger 1, Wandrey 1.
Blocks (3.0) — Blackmore 1.0 (1 S), Alyssa Biede 1.0 (1 S), Whitmer .50 (1 A), Wandrey .50 (1 A)
Serving (Mininum 7 attempts): (35-35 100% 5 aces) — Mason 12-12-3 (100%), Whitmer (7-7 (100%).
Sioux City North 21 – 17 – 15
Ridge View 19 – 21 – 10
Ridge View Record: 18-15 | Sioux City North Record: 6-22.
Ridge View Statistics
Assists (22) — Lilly Whitmer 19, Sydney Blackmore 3.
Kills (24 | Kill Eff: .125) — Blackmore 7, Gabi Mason 8, Kiara Luscombe 4, Naunika Crum 2, Claire Wandrey 1.
Digs (49) — Blackmore 14, Leslie Avina 9, Luscombe 7, Whitmer 5, Mason 5, Wandrey 3, Chloe Murphy 3, Crum 2, Alyssa Biede 1.
Blocks (2.0) — Mason 1.0 (1 S), Wandrey 1.0 (1 S)
Serving (Mininum 7 attempts): (48-49 98% 8 aces) — Mason 15-15-2 (100%), Avina 7-7-1 (100%), Blackmore 8-9-2 (88.9%).
Ridge View 15 – 13
Cherokee 21 – 21
Ridge View Record: 18-16 | Cherokee Record: 25-5
Ridge View Statistics
Assists (15) — Lilly Whitmer 14, Kiara Luscombe 1.
Kills (15 | Kill Eff: .085) — Sydney Blackmore 6, Gabi Mason 3, Luscombe 3, Naunika Crum 2, Claire Wandrey 1.
Digs (19) — Luscombe 6, Blackmore 5, Leslie Avina 4, Whitmer 2, Mason 1, Chloe Murphy 1.
Blocks (2.0) — Crum 1.0 (1 S), Wandrey 1.0 (1 S).
Serving (Mininum 7 attempts): (27-29 93.1% 2 aces) — Whitmer 6-7 (85.7%), Murphy ace, Blackmore ace.
Cherokee Statistics
Assists (16) — Elise Anderson 11, Addy Wolfswinkel 5.
Kills (17 | Kill Eff: .244) — Laney Wolfswinkel 9, Deidra Doeden 4, Keylee Gregg 3, A. Wolfswinkel 1.
Digs (19) — A. Wolfswinkel 6, Gregg 3, Kendyl Fox 3, Macy Gravenish 3, L. Wolfswinkel 2, Kalexis Hyndman 1, Ava Bouchard 1.
Blocks (4.0) — Doeden 2.0 (1 S, 1 A), Gravenish 1.0 (2 A), Kadyn Volkert .50 (1 A), Gregg .50 (1 A).
Serving (Mininum 7 attempts): (39-40 97.5% 6 aces) — L. Wolfswinkel 11-11-2 (100%), A. Wolfswinkel 7-7-2 (100%), Anderson 6-7-1 (85.7%).
Ridge View 20 – 23 – 5
Unity Christian 22 – 21 – 15
Ridge View Record: 18-17 | Unity Christian Record: 17-14
Ridge View Statistics
Assists (20) — Lilly Whitmer 18, Gabi Mason 1, Sydney Blackmore 1.
Kills (21 | Kill Eff: .132) — Blackmore 11, Gabi Mason 5, Kiara Luscombe 3, Naunika Crum 1, Claire Wandrey 1.
Digs (38) — Blackmore 11, Mason 8, Luscombe 7, Whitmer 5, Chloe Murphy 3, Wandrey 2, Leslie Avina 2.
Blocks (1.0) — Luscombe .50 (1 A), Wandrey 1.0 (1 S)
Serving (Mininum 7 attempts): (43-48 89.6% 5 aces) — Mason 12-14-1 (85.7%), Murphy 6-7-1 (85.7%), Whitmer 8-10-2 (80%).
Sioux City Heelan 21 – 21
Cherokee 11 – 17
Sioux City Heelan Record: 38-3 | Cherokee Record: 25-6
Cherokee Statistics
Assists (11) — Elise Anderson 5, Addy Wolfswinkel 5, Keylee Gregg 1.
Kills (13 | Kill Eff: .145) — A. Wolfswinkel 5, Laney Wolfswinkel 4, Deidra Doeden 2, Anderson 1, Kendyl Fox 1.
Digs (18) — Fox 4, L. Wolfswinkel 4, Anderson 4, Gregg 3, Macy Gravenish 2, A. Wolfswinkel 1.
Blocks (5.0) — Doeden 2.0 (1 S, 2 A), Gregg 1.5 (1 S, 1 A), L. Wolfswinkel 1.0 (1 S), A. Wolfswinkel .50 (1 A).
Serving (Mininum 7 attempts): (24-28 85.7% 2 aces) — Fox ace, Gregg ace.
Sioux City North 12 – 12
Cherokee 21 – 21
Sioux City North Record: 6-24 | Cherokee Record: 26-6
Cherokee Statistics
Assists (16) — Addy Wolfswinkel 7, Elise Anderson 6, Keylee Gregg 1, Lola Christensen 1, Mahren Malausky 1.
Kills (19 | Kill Eff: .255) — Laney Wolfswinkel 7, Deidra Doeden 4, Gregg 4, A. Wolfswinkel 2, Kadyn Volkert 1, Emma Ohlendorf 1.
Digs (12) — L. Wolfswinkel 3, Gregg 2, Macy Gravenish 2, Malausky 1, A. Wolfswinkel 1, Anderson 1, Ava Bouchard 1, Volkert 1.
Blocks (2.0) — Doeden 2.0 (2S).
Serving (Mininum 7 attempts): (34-36 94.4% 7 aces) — Macy Gravenish 8-8-2 (100%), A. Wolfswinkel 12-13-3 (92.3%), L. Wolfswinkel 9-10-2 (90%).
Cherokee 21 – 20 – 13
Sioux Falls Jefferson (SD) 15 – 22 – 15
Cherokee Record: 25-7 | Sioux Falls Jefferson (SD) Record: 16-2
Cherokee Statistics
Assists (NA) — Not available.
Kills (20 | Kill Eff: .208) — Not available.
Digs (NA) — Not Available.
Blocks (NA) — Not Available.
Serving (Mininum 7 attempts): Not Available.
