Newton volleyball finishes third, PCM goes 1-1 at R-S tourney

STORY CITY — Newton and PCM's volleyball teams faced off against each other for the second time this season and another win by the Cardinals pushed them into the placing bracket at the Roland-Story tournament on Monday.

The win by Newton over PCM allowed the Cardinals a chance to win the tourney title, while a loss by the Mustangs gave PCM just one more match.

Newton defeated PCM 21-15, 21-11 and then was defeated 21-12, 21-13, 15-8 by Class 3A No. 12 Roland-Story. The Cardinals took third in the tournament after a 10-21, 21-17, 16-14 win over South Hardin.

"We played really well all night except for the first set against South Hardin," Newton head coach Kim Florke said. "We were more consistent and dug up a lot of balls."

PCM's other match came against Heart of Iowa Conference rival Greene County, and the Mustangs downed the Rams 10-21, 21-14, 15-10.

Both Newton and PCM were coming off Homecoming week and each program had moments of a Homecoming hangover. Newton is now 9-11 after going 2-1 on the night.

Against PCM (11-15), senior Tess Brunsmann led the Cardinals with three kills, three digs and four aces. Senior Meg Callaghan tallied five kills and three blocks, senior Kynnedei Terpstra put down five kills and had two digs and freshman Kadance Ahn chipped in four kills and two digs.

Senior Kate Callaghan dished out 16 assists, senior Katie McConnell finished with five digs and senior Kayli Greer served up four aces.

The Cardinals were 36-of-41 in serves with Brunsmann serving 14-of-14 and Greer going 10-of-11.

Against the Cardinals, PCM senior Bella Stone had eight assists, senior Celeste Wagaman put down six kills and had three digs and junior Chelsea Bird finished with four digs. Senior Emma Houser tallied two digs.

The Mustangs were 23-of-27 in serves with Stone, Wagaman and Bird all going 5-of-6.

Newton recovered from a slow start against the ranked Lady Norse (16-4) and pushed the hosts to a third set.

Kate Callaghan nearly had a triple-double, finishing with 13 assists, 13 digs and nine kills in the loss.

Terpstra had five kills and four digs, Ahn added four kills and seven digs and Meg Callaghan tallied three kills and three digs.

McConnell had six digs, senior Riley Davidson chipped in three digs and Greer and Brunsmann each had a pair of assists.

The Cardinals were 39-of-42 in serves with Greer going 10-of-10 and Kate Callaghan serving 7-of-7.

Kate Callaghan continued her strong play against South Hardin (14-7). She finished with 19 assists, 11 digs, four kills, two blocks and two aces to lead Newton.

Ahn put down 10 kills and had eight digs, Meg Callaghan had four kills and three blocks and Brunsmann tallied four kills and two digs. Terpstra also had three kills and four digs.

Greer tallied two blocks and two digs, McConnell added five digs and Davidson chipped in four digs.

The Cardinals were 41-of-47 in serves with Greer serving 11-of-11 and Kate Callaghan going 9-of-9.

"I was happy to see us come from one set down and beat South Hardin," Florke said. "That is something we can build on. Taking a set from Roland-Story was also a positive step. They are a very good team."

In PCM's win over Greene County (4-9), Wagaman finished with five kills, four aces and two blocks, senior Kassidy Block had four kills and two blocks and senior Jacki Vos tallied two kills and three aces.

Stone dished out 10 assists, senior Lilli Baird chipped in three digs and two aces, Bird had four digs and sophomore Riley Johannes and senior Emma Reed each had two digs. Junior Claire Wilson collected two blocks.

PCM was 41-of-45 in serves with Vos and Johannes both leading the way at 6-of-6. Wagaman was 7-of-8 and Bird finished 9-of-10.

Newton plays Pella Christian at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Pella. PCM plays West Marshall at 7 p.m. on Oct. 6 in State Center.