March 29, 2024

Eagles sweep Cardinals in LHC volleyball

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Momentum just wouldn’t budge on Thursday night. Newton High’s Cardinals pushed at it hard throughout their home match against Pella Christian’s Eagles, but the Eagles kept it on their side of the net.

The recently ranked Eagles claimed a 25-20, 25-24, 25-18 win over the Cardinals in Little Hawk Conference action. The Eagles had been No. 12 in Class 2A, but fell out of the rankings as of Thursday.

Newton is mired in an 11-match losing streak. The Cardinals fell to 0-5 in LHC play and to 2-12 overall.

“The match didn’t go our way, but our girls did some great things. We are improving, and improvement is always a goal,” Newton head coach Ashley Carter said.

In the first set, Newton fell behind but senior Harlie Durr came on to serve up four straight points to take an 11-10 lead. Pella Christian broke a 13-13 tie with a three-point run and never trailed in the set again.

Both teams served the ball well in the match. Newton was 49-of-52 for 94 percent and Pella Christian went 66-of-72 for 92 percent. The Eagles had nine aces serves to Newton’s three ace serves.

The Eagles used a seven-point run to take a 15-7 lead in the second set. Newton could not catch up and lost the set 25-14.

Down 8-5 in the third set, Newton fought back again. Senior Carter Lee was at the service line and had a five-point stretch with one of the points coming on a kill by senior Alexis Hoffman.

The Cardinals had a 10-9 advantage, but were unable to halt a five-point service run by the Eagles. Newton stayed within striking distance of the Eagles — 19-16 on a tip by senior Lucy Lilienthal. Pella Christian never relinquished the lead on its way to a third-set victory.

Hoffman delivered eight kills at the net for Newton. Lilienthal and senior Audrey Lucas each put down five kills while senior Rachel Berkland and freshman Kate Callaghan had two kills each.

Madison Bleeker, another senior, had one kill. Bleeker and Lucas had one assisted block apiece. Callaghan was credited with 19 set assists. Lilienthal had two set assists. Lee and Durr each had one set assist.

Pella Christian’s net attack was just a bit better led by senior Bekah Horstman’s 12 kills. The Eagles (3-2, 9-10) also put up two solo blocks and six assisted blocks.

Lee put up 28 digs and Berkland had 10 digs. Lucas came up with nine digs and Hoffman had seven digs. Callaghan had six digs and Durr had five digs.

At the service line, Lee and Durr each served six points and Hoffman had three points. Lucas, Berkland and Callaghan had two points each. Callaghan was credited with two service aces and Berkland had one ace.

Newton’s junior varsity rallied to a 15-15 tie in the second set Thursday against Pella Christian. The Eagles won the match, 25-19, 25-20. Newton’s junior varsity plays at 8:30 a.m. Saturday in a tournament in Indianola.

In the freshman match, Pella Christian beat Newton 25-19, 25-18. Newton was 35-of-38 serving with five ace serves.

Jerrica McGuire had three aces serves and one kill for the NHS freshmen. Tess Brunsmann had one ace serve, one set assist and one dig and Jamie Rogers had two kills. Lainey Hull had two kills and two digs.

Kayli Greer was 7-of-8 serving. Riley Davidson had one ace serve, one kill, three set assists and two digs. Haley Fuller had three digs and Nykole Hernandez had five digs. Trenity Conley was 1-of-1 serving.

The Cardinal varsity plays at 4:30 p.m. on Monday in the Roland-Story Invitational in Story City.

Newton hosts Class 4A second-ranked Pella on Tuesday in Little Hawkeye Conference play. The freshman and junior varsity matches are at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity match is at 7:15 p.m.

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