Cardinals end long losing streaks, win twice at LHC tournament

The future of the Little Hawkeye Conference volleyball tournament is uncertain. The outlook is cloudy at best.

In most years, there’s not a great reason to have extra matches that don’t ultimately matter with the postseason a few days away.

But, a pair of victories for the Newton volleyball team on Thursday sends the Cardinals into regional play with a nest full of momentum.

Newton defeated both Dallas Center-Grimes and Oskaloosa for the first time since 2013 and those wins pushed the sixth-seeded Cardinals to a fifth-place finish on their home turf.

“These seniors came out today and played their hearts out in front of their home fans for the last time,” Newton head volleyball coach Heidi Woollums said. “They wanted to win and their play showed it.”

Woollums is one of the coaches who would prefer to not have the conference tournament.

While her opinion on the event may not change, she was happy her team delivered a pair of momentum-changing wins as the postseason gets underway next week.

“I love to eat my words. Every other year, we lose matches at this tournament and go into the postseason with no momentum or confidence,” Woollums said. “We totally benefited from today. I was very happy with how they came out and played.”

The last time Newton’s volleyball team defeated Oskaloosa was Oct. 15, 2013. The Indians’ streak of 19 straight victories against the Cardinals ended on Thursday.

Newton also snapped a 15-match losing skid against Class 4A No. 13 DCG. The Cardinals’ last win over the Mustangs was Sept. 28, 2013.

“There’s a lot of smack talk back and forth with these teams and there can be a lot of tension so this feels amazing to be able to get a few of these to go our way,” senior Hailey Sumpter said. “It’s nice to get two big wins that we don’t normally get.”

Newton (15-13) went 2-1 for the day. The last time the Cardinals won a match at the conference tournament was against Grinnell back in 2020.

The two victories guarantee the Cardinals their first winning season since going 26-13 in 2013. The 15 wins also are the most since Newton won 16 back in 2015.

“I think coming off those two long game fives we kind of needed this,” Newton senior Kadance Ahn said.

It was another big day for Ahn, who recorded her 1,000th career kill in the win over Oskaloosa.

Newton played in Pool B along with 4A No. 9 Norwalk and 4A No. 13 DCG. The Cardinals opened their day with a 21-12, 21-13 loss to Norwalk.

They rebounded with a 21-15, 21-19 win over DCG. That forced a tiebreaker scenario after DCG was a two-set winner over Norwalk.

The Warriors were the top seed in Pool B but lost to 4A No. 2 Indianola in the championship match. The Indians were the only team that did not lose in the tournament.

DCG (18-12) wound up finishing third after its win over Pella. The Cardinals then dumped Oskaloosa 25-19, 29-27 in the fifth-place match. Pella Christian went 0-3 in pool play and finished seventh.

“The conference was pretty tight this year,” Woollums said. “A lot of stuff didn’t go our way, but it showed how close we truly are today. Oskaloosa took us in five, but we just beat them in two. DCG took us in four earlier this season and we beat them in two.”

Newton hung around Norwalk early in their pool-play match, but the Warriors pulled away in both sets despite limited action from their best player, Noelle Sutcliffe. She did not play in the first game and was limited to the back-row in the second set.

Norwalk is 18-4 against Newton since 2008 and the Warriors have won 16 straight in the series.

Ahn finished with nine kills, two blocks and two digs to lead the way, while Macy Lampe finished with nine assists and three digs, Chloe Swank tallied eight digs and Delaney Woollums collected five digs.

Chloe Rorabaugh put down three kills, Addison White had three digs and the Cardinals were 24-of-25 in serves with one ace. Newton’s kill efficiency was limited to .045.

Ava Carlson led Norwalk (19-14) with 11 kills and two aces. The Warriors were 37-of-41 in serves with five aces.

“I felt like they believed in themselves tonight more than they had in the past,” Coach Woollums said. “The girls saw tendencies as we played and they were able to take some things away in that second match especially. They were still going after us, but we were in a position to dig them out because they knew where they were going to go.”

Newton jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the opening set against DCG and held advantages of 7-3, 10-4 and 11-6 before Norwalk got within 15-12 and 16-14.

The Cardinals scored four of the next five points to close out the set though, including a kill by Delaney Woollums.

Newton trailed 4-1 in the second set but a kill and two aces by Ahn tied the score at 4-all. The set also was tied at 6-, 7- and 8-all.

Kills by Ahn improved Newton’s lead to 10-8, 14-10 and 15-12 later. A Lampe tip and back-to-back kills by Delaney Woollums kept the Cardinals in front 18-15 and Sumpter and Ahn added kills down the stretch to finish off the Mustangs.

“I feel like a lot of outsiders doubt Newton, especially in volleyball,” Sumpter said. “This is a tough league and there aren’t many who think we can do well. It feels really good to prove something this season.”

Ahn finished with 10 kills, three digs and two aces and Delaney Woollums added seven kills and four digs. Her kill efficiency was .357 and Ahn’s was .292.

“Delaney knew she didn’t play well against Pella,” Coach Woollums said. “She knew she didn’t hit the floor the way she should. She missed serves at crucial times. But she said she wasn’t going to do that again. She wanted to show what kind of player she really is.”

Lampe chipped in 17 assists and five digs, Swank and Haylie Ryan each contributed seven digs, Rorabaugh tallied three blocks and Sumpter put down two kills.

The Cardinals were 39-of-41 in serves with three aces. Their kill efficiency was .283.

Gwen Farley and Addy Janssen led DCG with 17 assists and 12 digs, respectively. The Mustangs were 26-of-32 in serves with one ace and their kill efficiency was .189.

Newton never trailed in the opening set against Oskaloosa. There were four ties throughout the game and the Cardinals’ biggest lead was five.

A kill by Ahn put Newton up 7-4, Swank’s ace made it 11-7 and another kill by Ahn extended the lead to 13-11.

Oskaloosa (15-14) drew even at 16-all, but Delaney Woollums put down two kills, Ahn served up an ace and the Cardinals went in front 21-17 after an Indians service error and a two-touch violation.

Ahn put the Cardinals in front in the match with one final kill.

The Indians led the second set 5-0, but Newton rallied to tie it at 8-all in part because of kills from Ahn, Rorabaugh and Delaney Woollums.

The Cardinals mostly played from behind early in the set, but two more kills from Ahn kept the hosts close.

Oskaloosa couldn’t hold a 16-12 advantage though after Newton rallied to tie it at 18-all. There also were ties at 19-, 20-, 23-, 24-, 25-, 26- and 27-all.

Delaney Woollums was big down the stretch as her kills late in the set gave Newton match points at 25-24 and 27-26. The Cardinals eventually closed out the match a few points later.

Delaney Woollums finished with 10 kills and seven digs and her kill efficiency was .276.

“It’s important for me to do what I can when I get the opportunity,” Delaney Woollums said. “And Kadance isn’t going to be here next year so I will have to step up even more.

“We were beaten by both of those last two teams earlier this year but didn’t let that get to us. This is huge momentum going into the postseason. Knoxville is a good team and they also beat us earlier this season. This shows we can do it. We’ve done it before.”

Ahn entered the Oskaloosa match needing only two kills to reach 1,000. She finished with 11 kills and 17 digs and her kill efficiency was .409. The 1,000th kill came off an assist from White, who is one of her best friends.

“I didn’t ever think it would happen. Not in a million years,” Ahn said “But I couldn’t be more happy to do it with this group of girls.

“It’s all very surreal. This is the last time I will play in this school.”

Lampe posted 22 assists and six digs, Sumpter finished with three blocks and four digs, Swank tallied six digs and Ryan collected three digs.

The Cardinals were 49-of-50 in serves with three aces. Swank served 11-of-11 and Sumpter was 10-of-10.

“I’m so proud of her. I have played with her since we were little and she’s been amazing the entire time,” Sumpter said about Ahn’s 1,000-kill milestone. “I’m glad I got to experience this with her.”

Ahn now has 1,009 career kills and 836 career digs. She’s also posted career bests for a season with 327 kills, 251 digs, 34 blocks and 43 aces.

Ahn is the first Newton Cardinal to reach 1,000 kills since Melissa Bartholomew posted 1,122 from 2009 to 2011.

“In her head at the start of the year, she didn’t think she would get there,” Coach Woollums said. “When she hit her stride and started getting 24, 27 and 29 on teams, she started to think she had a chance.

“She’s phenomenal. I think she’s such a fantastic player that I put her in a category all by herself. Teams are zoned in on her, and she still gets it done.”

Notes: Lampe has season career bests of 512 assists and 141 digs so far this year. She’s currently sitting at 1,252 career assists. Swank’s 258 digs are the most for her in one season, too. She’s sitting at 692 career digs. “I challenged Chloe Swank today. She didn’t play well against Pella or Oskaloosa the last time and she dug out everything today,” Coach Woollums said. “She was amazing. Her and Macy stepped up today.” … According to Bound, Bartholomew’s 474 kills in 2011 were the most in one season among Cardinals since 2007. Ryanne Rausch posted 441 digs in 2016, Ellie Farrier dished out 730 assists in 2007 and Meg Callaghan registered 45 blocks in 2020. Current Newton assistant coach Mallory (Sturtz) Shipley served up 63 aces in 2008. Katelyn Camp also delivered 1,400 assists in two seasons from 2011-2012.