Newton volleyball ends season after regional loss to Bondurant-Farrar

BONDURANT — Newton head volleyball coach Heidi Woollums saw from her squad in the third set against Bondurant-Farrar on Tuesday what she knew the Cardinals were capable of throughout the season.

Unfortunately, the Newton volleyball team did not have enough consistent play in the opening round of the Class 4A Region 5 tournament, and the Bluejays scored a 25-14, 25-5, 23-25, 25-10 victory and eliminated the Cardinals for the second straight season.

“That third set is who they can be and how they can play if they get their minds right,” Woollums said. “They never really got that consistency. Tonight was the same roller coaster we saw all season.”

The Bluejays played to their statistics. Five players have at least 115 kills, 20 blocks, 150 digs and 20 aces this fall.

Nora Dodson finished with 15 kills and 12 digs to lead Bondurant-Farrar (13-20), but five Bluejays tallied at least five kills and seven players served up at least one ace.

“You just have to be ready for the ball to be coming from any angle,” Woollums said. “They don’t have a go-to player or use one big player. They’re balanced. We couldn’t focus on one player when scouting them.”

Woollums called a timeout early in the first set after the Cardinals fell behind 5-1. Morgan Frehse trimmed the margin to three with a kill, and a pair of kills by Addie Ratcliff kept Newton within striking distance.

But Bondurant-Farrar improved its advantage to 18-6 and went on to win by 11.

Kailynn Arens finished with 40 assists, 10 kills and three blocks to lead the Bluejays. Two of those kills came on dumps to the middle of the floor in the first set, and she also had big blocks to halt Newton’s momentum at times.

“The hitters were going to hit cross court and the setter is left-handed and will dump in the middle,” Woollums said about the Bluejays’ scouting report. “The wings needed to pinch in and take those. We knew it was coming. It wasn’t a surprise. We just watched it happen.”

Not much went right in the second set. After Frehse helped keep Newton even with an early kill, Bondurant-Farrar used a 12-0 run to grab momentum and cruised to the win and 2-0 match lead.

“They would go on six-point runs and then we’d serve into the net or they’d side us out immediately,” Woollums said. “You won’t win many sets or matches if you’re not digging up stuff or holding serve.

“We looked scared out there. I don’t know what it was. Norwalk was in the stands, maybe it was that.”

The win by Bondurant-Farrar set up a regional semifinal matchup with 4A No. 6 Norwalk on Thursday. The Warriors eliminated the Bluejays in straight sets.

The Bluejays had to play an extra set against the Cardinals after Newton won the third by the minimum two points.

Bondurant-Farrar led 3-0 in the frame, but two kills by Frehse and one from Addy Cibula pushed the Cardinals in front 4-3.

After the hosts went back in front by one, Newton got a kill from Frehse, an ace from Olivia Bell and a block from Cibula to push its lead to 8-5.

It stayed a three-point lead when Frehse put down another kill. But B-F scored the next four to go back in front.

The set was tied at 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 20 and 21 before the Cardinals scored four of the next six to stay in the match.

Frehse had two kills and an ace down the stretch and finished with 13 kills and six digs to lead the Cardinals (10-16) in the loss.

“It was like two different teams tonight,” Woollums said. “We’ve played amazing volleyball but also fell off the face of the Earth. We need to find a way to keep that mindset there, continue to play at a high level and not completely shut down.”

The Bluejays regained momentum with an 8-1 start in the fourth set. They used an 8-0 run later to extend the advantage to 17-3.

A Camryn Klein kill helped melt the margin to 19-7 and Frehse put down two kills later, but it wasn’t enough.

The loss ends the prep volleyball careers of six Cardinal seniors, including Ratcliff, Bell, Isabelle Rawlins, Emmy Gross, Sophie Greer, Merissa Schiebel and Faith Roffey.

Rawlins finished with 22 assists and seven digs, Ratcliff put down four kills, Bell and Schiebel totaled nine and eight digs, respectively, and Gross tallied two kills.

Klein registered three kills and six digs, Cibula posted four kills, and the Cardinals were 48-of-52 in serves with three aces. Rawlins was 12-of-12 in serves, Schiebel and Bell both were 9-of-9 and Klein served 7-of-8.

The Bluejays were 85-of-97 in serves with eight aces, and they finished with 11 blocks.

“Their setter was a great blocker and she got a couple of great blocks on (Frehse) and shut some others down and we got kind of panicky,” Woollums said. “And you can’t do that. You just have to keep going, throw in some different angles.

“But we only had three players tonight who had even played in a regional match before.”

Notes: Rawlins dished out 513 assists and was 214-of-217 in serves this fall. She ended her prep career with 2,030 assists. … Frehse led the Cardinals with 232 kills, Klein had a team-best 144 digs and they both tied for the team lead with 26 aces. … The Cardinals ended the season with a serving percentage of 94.