The Cyclones took the opening set, 25-21, then lost a pair of close games, 23-25, 21-25, before the Tornadoes finished with a commanding 25-12 win to close out the match in four.
Storm Lake (26-5) advanced to the Region 2 final on Tuesday at Orange City and will face top-ranked Sioux City Heelan (49-5). The Cyclones finished the season with an overall match record of 20-15 (55-46 in games) despite starting the year with a fairly inexperienced varsity lineup.
"I'm proud of our effort," said HCHS head coach Julie DuVal, "and the fact that they stuck together when things were a little bit tough . . . I'm disappointed about tonight because I (thought) that we'd have to play well, but I'd sure like to have won this one. I'd like to be a state qualifier or a regional finalist, and that just shows that we've got work to do. We've just got to keep getting better."
|
|
HCHS fell behind early in game one but limited errors, dug the ball well and played with the lead for much of the way. A trio of big kills by Cassie Meylor and Katie Blum rallied Storm Lake within 22-21, but the Cyclones responded with a Jacie White kill, a solo block by Jessica Ring and a Brooke Leinen ace to win the set.
Game two was close throughout, but the Tornadoes never trailed despite eight ties along the way. Down 23-19, HCHS scored four straight points to tie it up, but a costly miscommunication gave Storm Lake a free point at 23-23 and Meylor scored on a block at game point.
The turning point of game three took place with the Cyclones leading 12-10 after a Sarah Konz kill. The next point went to Storm Lake despite the Cyclones' pleas for a four-hit call, and the Tornadoes proceeded to rattle off an 8-0 run as HCHS hit its first real rough spot of the night. Trailing 18-12, the Cyclones twice pulled within three points, but four kills by the talented Blum allowed Storm Lake to finish off a 25-21 win.
"It's not why we lost the match," DuVal said of the tough no-call on Storm Lake. "It was just one point. The real difference was passing, and then we made more mistakes than they did hitting."
Needing a win to extend the match - and their season - the Cyclones simply never got anything going in game four and once again never led. Storm Lake seized control with an early 7-1 run and later scored eight straight points to go up 24-8. HCHS survived four straight match points before a double-hit call ended the night.
"We showed some fight at the end, but they were over there relaxed, laughing . . . no pressure," DuVal said. "Playing under pressure is a lot tougher."
In the end, DuVal felt that the final outcome came down to Storm Lake's serve receive accuracy and its ability to place the ball in tough locations for the Cyclones to mount attacks.
"They were able to three-pass us better off serve receive than we thought, and then (there were) a great number of first balls to our side that were played between the six-foot and the 16-foot line, and we prefer them played between 16 and 20 foot," DuVal said. "They were just pushing and keeping balls in play, and then we'd end up sending a push to them and they could run tempo.
"On serve receive and defensively, they were able to get their hitters more rips (than us), and when it wasn't good, they'd send junk to the 12-15 foot line."
Cyclone statistical leaders included Jacie White with 17 kills, Brooke Leinen with 29 assists, Jessica Ring with three blocks and Mary Kaufmann with 16 digs. Ring also served 16-for-16 with three aces and Kaufmann had a robust serve receive efficiency of .938 (21 three-passes in 24 attempts).
As a team, HCHS served 91.4 percent - one of its best marks in some time - while still managing nine aces. Team kill efficiency wound up at 10.6 percent.
The Cyclones will lose four seniors off this year's squad, including a four-year starter in their libero, Kaufmann. The departing seniors also include versatile setter Danielle Stewart, middle hitter Amanda Petersen and defensive specialist Leah Miller.
"They've put in a lot of time and dedication and they're all pretty bright," DuVal said. "We'll miss 'em. They probably wanted it more tonight . . . You only have an idea of how hard that is when it's your turn to be a senior. It's really tough."
HCHS 1, Storm Lake 3
(25-21, 23-25, 21-25, 12-25)
HCHS STATISTICS
Serving: 74/81 (91.4%), 9 aces, 1.286 ace/error ratio
Jessica Ring 16/16, 3 aces; Brooke Leinen 19/21, 2 aces; Bailey McGrath 10/11, 1 ace; Sadie Christensen 8/8, 1 ace; Amanda Petersen 8/9, 1 ace; Danielle Stewart 6/7, 1 ace; Leah Miller 6/7; Jacie White 1/2.
Serve Receive Efficiency: .721 (85 attempts)
Mary Kaufmann .938 (24 att.), Brooke Schaben .750 (2 att.), Miller .667 (15 att.), McGrath .648 (22 att.), Stewart .632 (17 att.), Leinen .450 (5 att.).
Attacks: 113/141, 43 kills (10.8 per game), .106 kill efficiency
White 37/46, 17 kills (.174 eff.); Sarah Konz 17/23, 7 kills (.043 eff.); Stewart 14/17, 5 kills (.118 eff.); Ring 17/19, 4 kills (.105 eff.); Christensen 9/10, 4 kills (.300 eff.); A. Petersen 9/10, 4 kills (.300 eff.); Leinen 9/12, 1 kill; Trisha Nowatzke 1/4, 1 kill.
Assists: 42 total (10.5 per game)
Leinen 29, Stewart 11, Kaufmann 1, A. Petersen 1.
Blocks: 7 total (1.8 per game)
Ring 1 solo, 2 assists; White 1 solo, 1 assist; Leinen 1 solo; Stewart 1 assist.
Digs: 69 total (17.3 per game)
Kaufmann 16, Stewart 12, Leinen 12, McGrath 10, Miller 4, Christensen 3, Ring 3, Schaben 3, Konz 3, A. Petersen 2, White 1.
Class 3-A, Region 1 Volleyball
Regional Semifinals: Thursday, October 29
Sioux City Heelan def. MOC-Floyd Valley: 25-20, 25-16, 25-9.
Storm Lake def. Harlan Community: 21-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-12.
Regional Final: Tuesday, November 3
Sioux City Heelan vs. Storm Lake (at Orange City), 7:00 p.m.
Class 3-A, Region 2 Volleyball
Regional Semifinals: Thursday, October 29
Atlantic def. Creston: 25-19, 12-25, 25-22, 25-12.
Dallas Center-Grimes def. Carroll: 25-22, 25-16, 20-25, 25-20.
Regional Final: Tuesday, November 3
Atlantic vs. Dallas Center-Grimes (at Guthrie Center), 7:00 p.m.
Class 4-A, Region 2 Volleyball
Regional Semifinal: Thursday, October 29
Abraham Lincoln def. Lewis Central: 25-14, 25-11, 25-11.
