Beyer leads Hawks’ all-SICL picks

Following a 15-12 season that ended in the Class 1A Regional Semifinals, the Lynnville-Sully volleyball team recently had three girls named to the South Iowa Cedar League all-conference teams.

Senior Kelsey Beyer — a second-team selection last year — made the first team this time around after leading the team and finishing second in the SICL with 152 kills in conference games. She also was one of the league’s best servers, posting a .956 serving percentage by going 130-of-136 with 36 aces — fifth-most in the SICL. She was second for Lynnville-Sully and fifth in the conference with 111 digs in league play and had a team-high 20 blocks.

Juniors Cassie Cullen and Jade Van Rees received all-conference honorable mention. Cullen finished seventh in the conference with 120 kills in league play and posted a .326 kill efficiency. She was good on 88.6 percent of her serves (132-of-149) and led the entire SICL in aces with 47. She had 62 digs, 22 solo blocks and 11 block assists to finish third in the league with 33 total blocks.

Van Rees, a setter, was a .908 server, hitting on 129-of-142. Her 31 aces were eighth-best in conference play. She finished third in the SICL with 282 set-assists and was fourth for the Hawks with 74 digs.

This season, Lynnville-Sully won seven more games than it did in 2011, when it went 8-18. The Hawks went 3-7 in conference play last year, but went 7-3 this year to finish third in the SICL standings. Their final game was a sweep on Oct. 26 at the hands of No. 1-ranked Grundy Center, which is a favorite to win the state title.