March 29, 2024

Cardinals push Eagles to brink in loss

PELLA — Taking on a senior-laden Pella Christian Eagle team, Newton High’s Cardinals made a statement Tuesday in their Little Hawkeye Conference opening volleyball match.

On the Eagles’ court, the Cardinals battled and forced a four-set match. The Eagles won 24-26, 30-28, 25-13, 26-24.

“I was very proud of them tonight and it seems they grabbed the attention of our opponents’ staff,” said Lauren Rowen, Cardinal head coach. “We are making a few changes and we are going to fly.”

Newton goes to 2-9 overall and 0-1 in LHC play. Pella Christian improved to 5-4 and 1-0. The Cardinals’ next conference match is at home against Dallas Center-Grimes on Sept. 23.

Before that, the Cardinals will host Class 5A eighth-ranked Southeast Polk (15-1) next Tuesday and play in at tournament at Des Moines Christian on Sept. 18.

Newton is a team with one senior on the squad, and it pushed Pella Christian to the brink in the conference opener on the road.

“The girls started very strong, then got a little comfortable and began to play at one level instead of putting the pressure on The Eagles,” Rowen said. “The beginning and end of all of the games were strong. We just need to play at that level in the middle too. We had a great work ethic and are taking what we are working on in practice and applying it at times, now we need the consistency.”

Kaytlin Ahn pounded down 13 kills to lead the Cardinals’ net attack. Allison Ergenbright and Megan Pressgrove each had four kills while Morgan Allen, Sydney Hemann and Ryanne Rausch delivered three kills apiece. Emily Fitzgerald had two kills. Pressgrove and Allen were credited with one assisted block apiece.

Taylor Shipley had six set assists. Fran Lucas came up with 11 digs from her libero spot on the back row. Rausch had nine digs followed by Pressgrove with six digs, Ahn with three and Shipley with two.

Lucas, Ahn and Pressgrove had strong nights at the service line for Newton. Lucas was 15-of-15 with one service ace. Pressgrove had three ace serves, going 13-of-15. Ahn was 12-of-13 serving with two ace serves.

Newton’s junior varsity notched a 17-25, 25-22, 15-10 win over Pella Christian. Shipley made 14 set assists and had four kills. Fitzgerald put down eight kills and had one service ace. Courtney Jacobsen served up five aces and had three kills.

Elise Axtell came up eight digs and served one ace. Bailey Davis had two aces and two kills. Jessie Smith made two kills and Savannah Reicks was credited with three digs. Adrienne Bergmann had one service ace.

“The girls got off to a slow start trailing by more then eight at one point. They ended up losing the first game, but stepped it up and battled hard to get the next two for the win,” said Mallory Sturtz, NHS assistant coach.

The Cardinal freshmen lost 26-24, 25-13 to Pella Christian.

“The girls played two hard fought games tonight. We are improving each time we play.  Working together as a team and learning the importance of fundamentals,” said Jennifer Mouchka, Newton assistant coach.

Contact Sports Editor Jocelyn Sheets at (641) 792-3121 Ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com.