Newton comes up short against Pella Christian

PELLA — Finishing sets and matches has been a problem for Newton High’s Cardinals on the volleyball court. It showed itself again Thursday against host Pella Christian.

Pella Christian’s Eagles snatched a 25-22, 25-20, 25-11 win from the Cardinals in Little Hawkeye Conference play. Newton dropped to 1-5 in conference action.

“The girls looked great in the start of set one. They came ready to play,” Newton head coach Ashley Carter said. “Our blocking is really improving, and we were digging up some hard hits.”

Carter said little mistakes by Newton led to the loss of the first two sets. She said in the third set, the Cardinals got stuck in a serve-receive rut and dug themselves a hole.

“We need to work on finishing strong when we get to those last few points,” Carter said. “The girls are excited for our tournament Saturday. We are happy we have Friday to put in some gym time.”

Taylor Shipley led the net attack with 11 kills for Newton. Megan Pressgrove had seven kills. Morgan Allen and Rachel Berkland each added a kill.

Pressgrove put up eight set assists and Shipley had five set assists. Also at the net, Allen was credited with four block assists while Lucy Lilienthal and Pressgrove each had two block assists. Audrey Lucas had a solo block and one block assist.

Ryanne Rausch came up with 14 digs, and Lucas had 10 digs. Pressgrove made seven digs and Carter Lee had five digs. Shipley made four digs.

Newton opens play in its tournament at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
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