Cardinals capture tournament title

URBANDALE — Newton High’s Cardinals had a breakout night on the volleyball court at Des Moines Christian. They went 3-1, winning the Des Moines Christian tournament championship.

“We played the most exciting games of volleyball we’ve seen all season,” Newton assistant coach Taylor Peska said. “The girls were excited, energetic and played as a team.”

The Cardinals opened the tournament with a 23-21, 21-17 win over Van Meter, which was 6-2 going into the night. They downed Mount Ayr (7-1) in straight sets, 21-13, 21-13.

Newton’s lone loss in the tournament came against host Des Moines Christian (6-8). The Lions beat the Cardinals, 21-14, 14-21, 16-14.

The Cardinals finished the night with a strong 21-18, 21-16 win against fellow Little Hawkeye Conference foe, Grinnell (3-5).

“Everyone stepped up to the plate and we finished strong with a win,” Peska said. “We are elated to be working with this great group of girls. We are so proud of them and how well they played tonight.”

A factor in the Cardinal run to the title was serving. Newton was 110-of-124 in the four matches, which is 89 percent.

In the Van Meter match, Megan Pressgrove served up two aces and made an impact at the net. She had four kills and one assisted block. Pressgrove was credited with four set assists and had five digs.

Morgan Allen delivered three kills and one assisted block and Kaytlin Ahn put up two solo blocks at the net and had two kills. Taylor Shipley had two kills and an assisted block. Shipley made eight set assists and two digs.

Allison Ergenbright downed one kill and had an assisted block. Fran Lucas came up with eight digs and Audrey Lucas had five digs.

Against Mount Ayr, Allen and Ahn each had two kills, two assisted blocks and two ace serves. Emily Fitzgerald connected for two kills and Ergenbright had one kill.

Pressgrove was credited with five set assists and Shipley had four set assists. Both had one kill and one ace serve. Pressgrove made two digs. Fran Lucas had three digs and Audrey Lucas had one dig.

Fran Lucas was credited with nine digs against Des Moines Christian. Shipley led the net attack with six kills followed by Fitzgerald with four kills, Pressgrove with three kills and Ahn with one kill. Fitzgerald and Ergenbright combined on a block.

Pressgrove had 10 set assists, and Shipley had four set assists. Shipley had seven digs, and Audrey Lucas had five digs. Audrey Lucas served up four aces, and Ahn had two ace serves.

In the win against Grinnell, Pressgrove powered down eight kills while Shipley had five kills and Ahn made four kills. Pressgrove and Shipley each had 10 set assists. Credited with one kill each were Fitzgerald, Stephanie Hoebelheinrich and Ergenbright.

Allen had a solo block at the net and Shipley had an assisted block. Fran Lucas was credited with six digs followed by Audrey Lucas with four digs and Pressgrove had three digs.

Audrey Lucas served four aces while Allen, Shipley and Pressgrove each had one ace serve.

Newton improved to 8-9 on the season. The Cardinals head into Tuesday’s Little Hawkeye Conference match at Dallas Center-Grimes with a 0-2 conference mark.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com