Newton volleyball goes the distance, falls to Gilbert in five

Sometimes losing a five-set thriller is harder than just simply being swept away by a better team.

On Thursday, the Cardinals lost a lead against Gilbert and eventually fell to the Tigers in five sets at home, but Newton head coach Heidi Woollums said it was better than losing in three and going home early.

“I was happy we were in that position. I was happy with the way they played,” Woollums said. “It is a heartbreaker and one they will think about more maybe. But they put up a fight and just didn’t just get pushed over.”

Gilbert rallied for a 20-25, 25-14, 13-25, 25-16, 15-8 win in a non-conference matchup. Four of the five sets were not very competitive each way, which is what Woollums said is ultimately the biggest issue for her squad right now.

“We have very high highs and very low lows. We still have to get that consistency,” Woollums said. “You can’t just drop off the face of the Earth and get killed and then come back and kill them.

“We were all over the place. We either played really well, passed really well, set really well and hit really well or we kind of fell apart and didn’t pass it well and didn’t set it well.”

After winning the first set, Newton fell behind 3-1, 7-3 and 9-5 in the second set. Gilbert continued to pull away with leads of 12-5 and 14-6 and then the Cardinals called timeout when their margin hit 19-11.

Gilbert eventually won the set on a Newton service error.

In the third set, Newton again fell behind early. This time though, they rallied. Trailing 7-2, a strong service run by Chloe Swank that featured two aces moved the home team into the lead.

A Delaney Woollums kill and an Audrey Rausch block made it 13-9 and forced a Gilbert timeout.

Macy Lampe’s ace and another kill by Delaney Woollums extended the margin to 16-9 before Kadance Ahn took over down the stretch and finished off the victory to put the Cardinals in front two sets to one.

“They did fight back. That’s something we haven’t done that much this season so I was happy with that, too,” Coach Woollums said about rallying back from an early third-set deficit.

Ahn began the fourth set with a pair of kills that tied things at 3-all, but Newton called timeout after falling behind 10-4 and 18-11. They eventually lost the set by nine.

The fifth set started out promising as Ahn put down three kills to give the Cardinals a 3-2 lead. But Gilbert used a 4-0 run to go up 6-3 and force a Newton timeout.

The Cardinals started a rally with a bump from Delaney Woollums that angled directly in front of the net and found open space on the other side of the floor.

Lampe then tied the set at 6-all and 8-all with a pair of kills, but the Tigers scored the final seven points of the set to lock up the match. The run included a pair of aces and a couple of Newton timeouts.

“The girls looked panicked. I saw it in them,” Coach Woollums said. “I didn’t see the ‘I want that ball, I want that pass, I want that set.’ I felt they were worried and didn’t feel that in the match until that point.

“We just need to be in these situations more and then have them go our way. We just haven’t had things go our way. When we get in those situations and don’t come through, it gets tough. I want to think they believe they can do it though.”

There was more balance throughout the lineup this time for Newton. Ahn, Lampe and Delaney Woollums all recorded double-doubles.

Ahn finished with 22 kills, 23 digs, two assists and two blocks, Lampe added 31 assists, 10 digs and four kills and Delaney Woollums tallied 12 kills, 10 digs, two assists and two aces.

Ahn leads the team with 175 kills so far this season, but Woollums is settling in as the clear No. 2 option. She is now up to 75 kills.

“She had a pretty poor match against Indianola. They are a great team, but she knows she’s better than the way she played that night,” Coach Woollums said. “I knew she’d be focused tonight and would bounce back. She wanted to show she’s a better player. She has every ability to be our No. 2 hitter, but she has to believe that and go do it.”

Emily Wermager finished with 10 assists and four digs, Swank registered 14 digs, two kills and three aces and Rausch delivered four kills and seven digs. Chloe Rorabaugh chipped in three kills and two blocks and Hailey Sumpter added six digs.

“This is the most everyone has contributed in one match this year,” Coach Woollums said. “We had multiple players with kills, blocks and digs. It wasn’t just Kadance carrying the load. We had more balance tonight.”

Notes: Besides leading the team in kills, Ahn also ranks second with 138 digs, tied for first with 20 aces and she has 13 blocks. Swank leads the squad with 141 digs and is tied with Ahn for the team lead with 20 aces. ... Delaney Woollums is 116-of-118 in serves this season for a percentage of 98.3. Swank is 141-of-146 for a percentage of 96.6.