Baxter volleyball loses heartbreaker on Senior Night

BAXTER — Six players put down at least three kills and four served up four or more aces, but the Baxter volleyball team couldn’t maintain consistency during a five-set loss to Meskwaki Settlement School on Thursday.

The Bolts rallied from a big deficit to win the fourth set and stay alive, but the Warriors used a fast start in the final frame to close out their 25-20, 21-25, 28-26, 25-27, 15-8 road victory during Iowa Star Conference South Division action.

It was the first win in the series for Meskwaki Settlement School since the teams started playing conference matches in 2016. It also was the first-ever five-set match during that span.

“This loss hurts a little bit,” Baxter head volleyball coach Jordynn Wesselink said in reference to Baxter players being extra emotional after the loss. “I think it’s because it was Senior Night, and they fought so hard to get to a fifth set. It’s was just disappointing to lose.”

The Bolts had trouble with consistency in the loss. They trailed the entire way in the first set, led from the beginning in the second set and lost the third set after leading most of the way.

The Warriors lost a huge lead in the fourth set as Baxter stayed alive, but a quick start in the final frame was enough for the visitors to hang on.

The Bolts trailed 3-0 and 4-1 in the opening set before closing the gap to 6-5. Meskwaki went back in front 10-6, 13-7 and 18-11 though as Baxter trailed by seven three different times in the frame.

The two teams combined to miss 11 serves in the game. Baxter missed 20 serves in the match despite serving up 25 aces.

“I felt like we rushed it mentally tonight,” Wesselink said in reference to her team’s serving. “I tell them every single time that they have eight to 10 seconds after the referee blows the whistle to serve the ball. I need them to take their time and get the ball in. Aces come and go. We don’t need an ace every time. If we get the serve in, we can at least play the ball and see what happens.”

The second set was full of aces by both teams. Baxter led 2-0 following an ace by Caydence Sulzle. The lead grew to 5-2, 9-5, 13-6 and 19-11 after aces by Kamdyn Krampe, Alyvia Burdess, Kaylyn Krampe and Denver Sulzle, respectively.

The final ace of the game came from Lexi Dart, and it gave the Bolts a 25-21 win.

The Warriors (3-10, 3-0 in the conference) closed their gap to 20-15 and 21-18 after back-to-back aces by Karsyn Wolf and Eva Roberts, but the Bolts hung on to even the match at one set apiece.

While the two teams combined for double-digit aces in the set, they also missed a combined 12 serves and had a stretch of four straight misses at one point.

“There were points tonight where I looked at (my assistant coach) and just said, ‘what do I say to them,’” Wesselink said. “We just weren’t consistent with things we’ve been consistent with this season. We’ll continue to work on those things to hopefully get to where we’re serving 90 percent or better.”

Back-to-back aces by Dart helped the Bolts overcome a slow start in the third set. Back-to-back aces by Kamdyn Krampe kept things close, but Baxter (3-9, 2-2) still trailed 12-9, 14-10 and 15-11.

A Kamdyn Krampe push and consecutive aces from Sulzle evened the set at 15-all, but Meskwaki turned an 18-17 lead into a 23-18 advantage.

Back-to-back aces by Burdess helped the Bolts rally, and the set was tied at 23, 24, 25 and 26 before the Warriors scored two straight to win. Baxter missed four serves in the game.

The Bolts rallied from significant deficits in the fourth set. They trailed 5-1, 11-6 and 17-10 before a kill and back-to-back aces by Kaylyn Krampe closed the gap to 17-14.

The run continued as a Mallory Bottorff tip trimmed the margin to 20-18 and then kills by Emileigh Beals, Sulzle and Kamdyn Krampe and an ace by Bottorff pushed the Bolts in front 24-22. They eventually won the set by two to force a fifth and final game.

“I told them in the huddle, it was a do or die set,” Wesselink said. “They had the choice to fight hard and force a fifth or they could just roll over and let them have it. It was up to them.

“For us to fall behind like we did, it would have been easy to quit. But they didn’t. It proves they can battle through the tough times. We want to have that positive team culture. They showed a lot of grit and determination in those sets.”

Wolf opened the fifth set with back-to-back aces to give the Warriors an early lead. The Bolts rallied with three straight but fell behind 6-3 and 7-4 before back-to-back aces from Dorothy Bear swelled the Warriors’ lead to 11-5.

Bear, a left-handed right-side hitter, put down consecutive kills earlier in the frame, too.

Baxter melted its margin to 11-8, but Meskwaki scored four in a row to end it.

“That’s not a set you can fall behind in,” Wesselink said. “It’s a set of intervals — five, 10 and 15. They were the first to five and the first to 10. We also made mistakes we shouldn’t have been making, but that’s the game of volleyball and it’s what happens sometimes.”

Kamdyn Krampe led the Bolts with eight kills, seven digs and seven aces and Burdess totaled 10 assists, two kills, five digs and four aces.

Caydence Sulzle put down three kills, served up four aces and had 24 digs, Dart chipped in four kills and five aces, Kaylyn Krampe contributed four kills and three digs and Bottorff registered five kills and two aces.

Olivia Parrie dished out 13 assists and added three digs, Danika Flora collected eight digs, Rilyn Titus had six digs, Beals put down three kills and Denver Sulzle finished with two kills, three digs and two aces.

The Bolts were 87-of-107 in serves with 25 aces. Denver Sulzle served 16-of-18, and Baxter’s kill efficiency was .040.

Notes: Caydence Sulzle, Burdess, Flora, Dart, Titus and Ariana Stampfli were recognized before the match for Senior Night. Stampfli is a foreign exchange student from Switzerland. “These seniors are my babies. I started coaching four years ago,” Wesselink said. “So it’s also sentimental for me. There’s been a lot of growth and passion in these girls. They’ve gotten better over the years. They’ve dealt with a lot of roster changes and lineup changes, and they show up and work to get better every day. This is a group I will hold near and dear to my heart.” … Caydence Sulzle leads the Bolts with 109 digs and 27 aces. Burdess has a team-best 55 assists and Denver Sulzle leads the squad with 31 kills.