Area volleyball roundup: CMB, PCM, Colfax-Mingo swept

BAXTER — Following a relatively encouraging performance Tuesday night with the regional playoffs looming, Collins-Maxwell/Baxter ended conference play Thursday with a bit of a clunker.

The Raiders never got on track and suffered a straight-set defeat at the hands of South Hamilton, 25-14, 25-12, 25-20.

CMB led for only four points all night as South Hamilton’s offense dictated play.

“I feel like we were more on the defense all the time, that we always had to be moving and reacting to what they were doing instead of them reacting to us,” CMB senior libero Mackenzie Schmitz said.

Crisp passing led to strong scoring opportunities for South Hamilton, particularly in the first set as Hawk hitters seemed to pick apart CMB’s defense with precision.

“We ran a lot of offense and I thought we made some good choices. The hitters read the defense pretty quickly and kept CMB on their heals a little bit,” South Hamilton head coach Cindy Holmes said. “I was happy with the percentage of time we ran offense and especially happy with our passing.”

All three sets followed a similar script in which South Hamilton created separation from the Raiders midway through the sets after the teams played close early.

With the scored tied, 4-4, in the first set, South Hamilton scored eight of the next nine points and never looked back.

Another 8-1 Hawks run in the second set pushed South Hamilton’s lead to 14-5, highlighted by three straight aces from senior Carly Swenson.

Leading 10-8 in the third set, South Hamilton then scored five unanswered points and never led by fewer than five the rest of the night.

“We just muddled through tonight,” CMB head coach Scott Ranck said. “Just weren’t ready to play. We did some good things, but just one of those nights where we just didn’t have any spark.”

Jurgens led CMB with five kills. Schmitz posted a team-best 22 digs and landed all seven of her serves in play.

The Raiders play at Madrid in the first round of the regional playoffs in five days. Ranck said he isn’t concerned about his team’s performance heading into that match.

“These girls will come back,” he said. “This is one of those things you just forget about it and go on. The tournament starts now, so they’ll be ready to go for the tournament.”

PCM ends conference play with loss

STORY CITY — Prairie City-Monroe ended its conference play Thursday night in a straight-set loss to Roland-Story, 25-9, 25-15, 25-9.

No stats for the Mustangs were available at press time.

Tigerhawks lose two

NEVADA — Colfax-Mingo couldn’t build off its exciting victory Tuesday night and lost to both Nevada and Saydel Thursday in a triangular.

The Tigerhawks lost to Nevada, 25-3, 25-12, 25-4. The team totalled five kills and Megan Earles accounted for all four of the team’s assists in the match.

Colfax-Mingo was more competitive against Saydel, losing, 25-13, 25-19, 20-25, 25-18. Ries Wilson posted seven kills against Saydel while Sara Lahart recorded 32 digs.