Cardinals fall to Tigers in 4A regional play

Playing against a team a third time in a season is tough for either team. Newton High’s Cardinals had beaten Grinnell’s Tigers twice in regular-season volleyball play. The two Little Hawkeye Conference team met Monday in the first round of Class 4A Regional 4 action at Newton.

After each team claimed a set to open Monday’s match, it was back-and-forth in the third set. It was tied 12-12 when the Tigers got a one-point lead they never gave up. A three-point serving run pushed Grinnell’s lead to 22-17, and Newton wasn’t able to respond.

Grinnell knocked Newton out of the 2015 postseason with a 25-22, 18-25, 25-20, 25-14 win. The Cardinals couldn’t get any traction in the fourth set as the Tigers staked a lead and kept building on it.

“This group has grown so much over the season, and I am unbelievably proud of them,” Newton head coach Laura Sherratt said. “We may not have been successful tonight, but we have succeeded by making great strides on and off of the court this season.”

Newton won just seven matches in 2014. The Cardinals finished this season at 16-19. They were 1-4 in Little Hawkeye Conference play after not winning a conference match a year ago.

“Losing is a part of sports, we don’t have to like it, but we will learn from it. We will take the lessons learned from our loss tonight and keep improving. There are great things to come,” Sherratt said.

In the first set Monday, Newton trailed 9-6 when senior Adrienne Bergman came in to serve. Bergman served two points as junior Megan Pressgrove made a tip and a block at the net. The Cardinals played catch-up throughout the set, and just couldn’t quite catch the Tigers.

Junior Kaytlin Anh set the tone for the second set with three of her team-high 11 kills on the night to put Cardinals up 6-5. She served the next three points as Pressgrove, who had eight kills, delivered at the net.

Newton held an 11-7 lead when Pressgrove stepped to the serving line. Senior Allison Ergenbright and junior Taylor Shipley delivered kills and Pressgrove had one of her seven service aces. The Cardinals never allowed the Tigers in the set.

Another three-point serving run by Pressgrove pushed Newton to a 23-14 lead. Grinnell did stave off the final two set points on a four-point run, but the Cardinals reclaimed service. Shipley served and Ahn pounded down the winning kill.

In the third set, neither team had more than a one-point lead early and it was tied five times. Grinnell served two points to take a 14-13 lead. Newton wasn’t able to get even or take the lead again. The Tigers took the set 25-20.

Grinnell built a 7-3 lead in set four. Newton battled, but was unable to climb back into the set. It was 18-12 when sophomore Audrey Lucas served two points for the Cardinals. The Tigers went on a six-point service run to end the match.

Pressgrove served for 11 points in the match while Audrey Lucas had six service points. Ahn and senior Fran Lucas each had five service points and Ahn had an ace serve. Shipley served up three points and had an ace. Bergman had two service points and senior Emily Fitzgerald had one service point.

At the net, Ahn had the 14 kills and a block assist while Shipley put down nine kills. Pressgrove had eight kills along with a solo block and an assisted block. Fitzgerald, Ergenbright and junior Morgan Allen each had one kill. Allen recorded a solo block and an assisted block and Ergenbright had an assisted block.

Pressgrove was credited with 30 set assists while Fitzgerald and Allen each had two set assists.

Fran Lucas came up with 17 digs, and Pressgrove had seven digs. Audrey Lucas made four digs followed by Ahn with three, Bergman with two, Shipley with one and Fitzgerald with one.

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