Newton volleyball claims sixth in Cardinal Invitational

Sydney Hemann pounded the volleyball between two Ottumwa players up at the net for a block for a kill. The Newton High senior had a little fist pump and let out a yell.

Newton High’s Cardinals lost the fifth-place match to Ottumwa in a tough point-for-point contest, 25-22, 25-22, to end the day of action at Saturday’s NHS Cardinal Volleyball Invitational. But the Cardinals showed plenty of fight and “fun” in their play as they went 2-3 in their matches at home.

“Just seeing how much we’ve improved throughout the season, we know we’re capable of doing a lot,” said Megan Pressgrove, a sophomore who is the lone varsity returner from a year ago. “I see great things for this team. We’re having fun playing and next year we’re a team to watch out for.”

Harlan, top-ranked in Iowa Class 4A, went undefeated in the event, defeating Class 2A fifth-ranked Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 25-16, 25-14 for its fourth consecutive Cardinal Invitational championship.

It was up and down for the young Cardinal squad. Hemann is the only senior on the team.

The Cardinals opened Saturday’s tournament with a 21-15, 21-13 victory over Des Moines North. In a 10-10 tied second set, junior Fran Lucas served eight consecutive points to put the Cardinals in control against the Polar Bears.

In their next pool match, the Cardinals took on Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont’s Rockets, which are ranked fifth in Class 2A. Newton hung with EBF in the first set, down 14-10, then the Rockets served out the set. The same thing happened in the second set as the Rockets won 21-10, 21-15.

The only match Newton was out of early was against Class 4A ninth-ranked Boone, losing 21-13, 21-11. Boone pushed out to a 7-3 lead in the first set. A tip by Pressgrove made it 19-12 and gave the serve to Newton but, the Cardinals could not score. Boone had a seven-point run to push ahead in the second set and never let the Cardinals back in the second set.

“The girls played pretty decent today. There was a lot of fight in some tough situations,” said Laura Rowen, Newton head coach. “With playing against some solid, experienced teams, they really kept their composure.”

Battling with Carlisle in the consolation bracket opener, Newton used serving by sophomore Taylor Shipley, Lucas and sophomore Ryan Rausch — all three had three-point runs at the service line — to get a lead. But it was the net work by Pressgrove in the three-set match that pumped up the Cardinals.

Pressgrove, who had 35 kills on the day, pounded and tipped the ball at the net for 15 kills against Carlisle. Three came in a row with Hemann serving in the decisive third set to push the Cardinals up to an 8-6 lead. Shipley went to the service line with Newton down 10-9 and served four straight with Rausch and junior Emily Fitzgerald having a kill each.

Newton got the win on a tip by Pressgrove with Lucas serving. Newton won 25-23, 13-25, 15-12.

The Cardinals locked up in a point-for-point match with the Ottumwa Bulldogs in the fifth-place match. Ottumwa won the first set. The second set was tied 19-19 and Newton had the serve. Again, the Cardinals could not hold serve and score. The Bulldogs went on to win 25-22, 25-22.

“Something we need to work on is being aggressive on offense and putting the pressure on the other side of the net,” Rowen said. “Overall, it was a mostly positive day even though the record might not show that.”

Pressgrove said her tipping skills are just “something that happens. I don’t really think about it.” Pressgrove is 6-feet tall and has a wing-span of — forever it appears at times. She had the 35 kills but also led the team in set assists with 24. Pressgrove had 16 digs, one solo block and two block assists. She served one ace.

Rausch had seven service aces and 11 digs plus five kills. Lucas, who plays libero for the Cardinals, came up with 37 digs. Lucas had four ace serves. Hemann had 13 kills, 10 set assists, six digs, four ace serves and one block assist.

Sophomore Courtney Jacobsen had nine kills and nine digs, plus an ace serve. Sophomore Morgan Allen downed nine kills and a block assist. Shipley had eight kills and six digs and Fitzgerald had four kills.

Newton (7-21) hosts Oskaloosa Tuesday in Little Hawkeye Conference play. It is Newton’s Dig Pink Night for breast cancer awareness.

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