Aggressive Raiders dump PCM

BAXTER — The key battle in Monday’s Heart of Iowa Conference matchup between Collins-Maxwell-Baxter and PCM was Jordan Maher against Kali Umble. Both senior hitters are well known. Both pound the ball hard. And both are very much counted on by their respective teams at the net. Monday, Maher was just a little better as her Raiders came out fired up on parent’s night, held off a late PCM rally and disposed of the rival Mustangs in four games at home, winning 27-25, 25-19, 15-25, 27-25. “We played well enough to win, and we did some good things,” CMB coach Jon Richrads said. “But we are still in a funk. We need to all be on the same page at the same time.” The matchup could be a preview of a second-round playoff battle between two good area teams. And PCM coach Mike Vittetoe knows what the difference was Monday. “We came out flat,” Vittetoe said. “We weren’t attacking. Our passing was poor. And we were giving them free balls.” The matchup at the net was won by Maher as she finished with 18 kills and eight blocks and also had four digs and an ace. Umble had 14 kills, 10 digs and three aces. “I play with Kali on a club team, so I know she is a very good player,” Maher said. “I knew I had to get my hits on offense and find her on defense. We needed to keep the ball away from her as best we could.” Early on in the match, that is exactly what CMB (14-5) did. The Mustangs took an early lead behind back-to-back aces by Nicole Hayden. After CMB came back to tie the game at 13, the Mustangs used kills by Molly Jennings and Jordan Wood and three consecutive aces by Bri Zerley to go up 18-13. After a CMB timeout, the Raiders rallied behind back-to-back kills by Maher, an ace by Jessica Robinett and another kill by Maher. The game was tied several times down the stretch, but CMB eventually went up 1-0 following three straight kills by Maher. “We knew we’d have to get our blockers on her,” Vittetoe said of Maher. “She’s good. You are not going to stop her. She read our blocks well tonight.” The start of Game 2 was again tight as neither team gained much of an advantage on the scoreboard. The Raiders were down a few points early but battled back to tie things up at 8 and 9 before going up five after a block and kill by Julia Robinson and an ace by Abby Maher. PCM got the game back to 18-16 but another run by the Raiders — led by two Jordan Maher kills and a block — managed to go back up by six and then they eventually won the game after a PCM error. “I liked how we started the match,” Richards said. “We got some early hits and blocks. Their hitters can hit the ball hard, but we kind of took them out of the match early on.” Umble had just three kills after two games but came alive in Game 3 and helped the Mustangs avoid the three-game sweep. PCM (10-8) got out to a 5-0 start behind a couple more aces from Zerley and then a pair of kills by Umble pushed the lead to 8-2 before a long service run by Umble extended the lead to 14-5. CMB got to within four at 18-14, but PCM scored seven of the final eight points to claim the easy win. “I don’t think either one of us played as well as we can play,” Richards said. “We need to be more motivated as a group.” Game 4 was tight throughout as neither team gained a real big advantage until late. There were seven ties in the early stages, but Jordan and Abby Maher did their best to move the Raiders toward victory. Jordan Maher recorded a block and a kill between an Abby Maher kill and then five straight points by the Raiders, including an ace and a kill by Abby Maher made it 23-17. Umble nearly rallied PCM by herself as her kill and back-to-back aces helped narrow the lead, and the Mustangs eventually tied the score at 24. Unlike earlier this season when the Raiders blew a big lead against Bondurant-Farrar, CMB managed to stay focused down the stretch and eventually closed out the Mustangs, 27-25. Jordan Maher tipped a ball to the back corner on point No. 26 and a long rally went CMB’s way on No. 27. “I don’t like how we finish matches right now,” Richards said. “But it was good to get this one.” Jordan Maher agreed. “We definitely need to finish matches better and stay confident throughout,” she said. “We needed this one after what happened against Bondurant-Farrar.” These two teams could meet again if both squads win their opening round match in the regional tournament. That game would be played Tuesday, Oct. 28, this time in Monroe. “We’ll need to hit the ball better in that one,” Vittetoe said. “We’ll need to be more offensive and less defensive.” Abby Maher backed her older sisters big game with eight kills, eight digs, three aces and two assists. Robinson added six kills and five blocks, Lindsey Gauch delivered 23 assists and Hannah Paul pitched in three digs and two aces. For PCM, Jordan Wood had nine kills and nine digs, while Zerley had seven aces and a team-high 14 assists. Hayden delivered 11 assists and had five digs and four aces. Erica Neideigh had four blocks. Notes: The Raiders honored every member of the team before the varsity match. The varsity players were introduced with their parents on the court. ... On the game’s final point, Paul lost her show during action, but it didn’t matter as CMB found a way to score anyway. ... CMB is now 3-2 in the conference, while PCM falls to 2-3. ... CMB is in action tonight at Alleman against North Polk and South Hamilton. The Raiders won three and lost one this weekend at Madrid. The team’s lone loss came against Woodward-Granger.