March 18, 2024

Baxter volleyball loses home match to Van Meter

BAXTER — Senior Jordynn Wesselink finished with 12 kills, nine digs and had a kill efficiency of .310, but the effort came in a loss as the Baxter volleyball team fell in straight sets to Class 2A No. 15 Van Meter on Monday night.

Van Meter won its eighth straight and improved to 11-3 on the season following a 25-19, 25-13, 26-24 win on the road.

“We played pretty well against a good team,” Baxter coach Scott Ranck said. “We are continuing to learn game situations, we fought to the end against some tough competition. It was good to see that effort. Our next step is to start bottling that up into longer and more consistent stretches.”

Wesselink had eight of her 12 kills in the final set. No other Baxter player had more than sophomore Amber Weltha’s three kills. Junior Sydney Schmidt collected 18 assists, served up two aces and was 10-of-10 in serves and senior Sailor Hinegardner finished with 15 digs.

The Bolts (6-6) were 53-of-55 in serves. Senior Lexi Ewing had five digs and was 11-for-11 in serves, and Wesselink was 8-of-9 and senior Mary Schabilion was 14-of-15.

“In the last set, the team kept fighting and never gave up,” Ranck said. “We were down 18-8 at one point and had game point before Van Meter scored the final three points of the set.”

It’s a busy week for the Bolts as they host GMG for an Iowa Star Conference South Division match at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Baxter. The Bolts also host Colo-NESCO on Thursday.