East Mills advances to regional final with win over SWV
Charm Carpenter
The Red Oak Express
East Mills volleyball swept the Southwest Valley Timberwolves in Class 1A, region 3 semi final Thursday, Oct. 31, in Malvern, advancing to the championship match with Sidney tonight in Tabor for a trip to state.
“We will be playing Sidney for a fifth time this season,” East Mills head coach Connie Blank said. “Our game plan is to just focus on one play at a time, pass the ball well, be aggressive on offense, and scrappy on defense. Don’t get rattled and stay calm. Play our game, and just leave it all out on the court. And we expect to win.”
East Mills jumped to an early 6-1 lead in the first set and extended the gap to 18-10 before the Timberwolves added five straight points to get within three. Although SWV was able to knot the score at 21, the Wolverines put together a run of four to win 25-21.
The Wolverines started quickly in the second set, and were leading 24-14, before SWV put the brakes on the set and rattled off eight points behind the serving of Isabelle Inman. But the rally was too late, and East Mills took the 25-22 win.
East Mills never let up, beginning set three on a 7-1 run, and winning the set 25-15.
“It was great to get another win on our home court (10-0) one last time this season,” Blank said. “Our passing wasn’t the best tonight, but the rest of our game was on. We have to stay more focused when we’re up on the scoreboard. The second set we let them right back in it when we were up 24-15, and luckily calmed down to finish 25-22.”
The Wolverine defense combined for 14 blocks and 59 digs aiding in a huge way to the win.
Dezirae Drake ran the offense with 31 assists and had 14 digs for a double-double. She chipped in one kill, two aces.
Ebonee Drake had eight digs; Rachel Drake seven kills, one dig, six blocks; Kaylor Horgdal nine kills, one block; Alex Knop eight kills, one assist, 15 digs, two blocks, one ace; Randi Knop one assist, six digs; Hanna Smith three kills, four assists, two digs, three blocks; Lexi Ungry one assist, 11 digs; Emily Williams 13 kills, two digs, two blocks, one ace.
“We really just struggled with our serve receive pass tonight, and that really hampered our offensive efforts,” SWV head coach Lindsay Wetzel said. “We started off every set a little slow, and dug some holes that we had to dig out of point-wise. I thought the girls really showed a lot of fight and kept playing point for point and had some big runs to get back in each set.”
Jentry Schafer had seven kills, three aces to lead the Timberwolf scoring and added four digs, three blocks on defense.
Delaney Dalton had three kills, seven digs, one block; Inman 19 assists, three digs, three aces; Olivia Jacobs seven digs; Marah Larsen two kills, two digs; Norah Lund three kills, one assist, eight digs, one block, four aces; Kayley Myers five kills, six digs, one block.
“The five graduating seniors are leaving quite a legacy for Southwest Valley volleyball,” Wetzel said. “They have accomplished so much this season to be proud of, including the new school record of 25-6. They were undefeated on the west half of the POI Conference, and POI Conference tourney champions.
“Iz [Inman] and Jentry [Schafer] broke school records, and the team was state-ranked through many weeks of the regular season. I am proud of our entire team and for a great season. They have a lot to be proud of and can walk away from this season with their heads held high.”
Southwest Valley ended the season 25-6, and graduate Delaney Dalton, Olivia Jacobs, Allison Marshall, Kayley Myers, and Jentry Schafer.
East Mills
The Wolverines swept East Union on Monday, Oct. 28, with set scores of 25-16, 25-9, 25-14 to reach the semi final with Southwest Valley.
D. Drake had one kill, 31 assists, nine digs, two blocks, three aces; E. Drake three digs; R. Drake eight kills; Horgdal six kills, two aces; A. Knop 14 kills, one assist, 13 digs; R. Knop two digs, one ace; Smith three kills, two assists; Ungry one assist, 10 digs, three aces; Williams four kills, three digs, two blocks.
Southwest Valley/Stanton
The Timberwolves defeated Stanton in semi final action on Monday, Oct. 28, in four sets with scores of 25-22, 25-20, 22-25, 25-16.
“I felt that we came out a bit slow and did not sway a lot of momentum to our advantage in the first two sets,” Stanton head coach Jody Druivenga said. “In set three, we came from behind to finish with a win with some scrappy court play, but failed to transfer that momentum advantage to set four.”
Dalton had three kills, one assist, 14 digs, one block, three aces; Inman one kill, 35 assists, five digs, one block, one ace; Jacobs seven digs; Larsen 10 kills, five digs, two blocks; Lund four kills, 11 digs, two aces; Myers 14 kills, one assist, nine digs, two blocks, one ace; Schafer eight kills, one assist, eight digs, two blocks.
Marleigh Johnson posted a double-double with 13 kills, 10 digs, and teammate Kami Tibben closed her prep career with a double-double of 10 kills, 11 digs. Tibben added one block and one ace.
Brooklyn Adams had 1 assist, 10 digs; Abby Burke one assist, one dig; Devin Isaacson one kill, 14 assists, nine digs, one ace; Tara Peterson 12 kills, one assist, eight digs, two blocks; Jenna Stephens nine kills, 10 digs, one blocks, two aces; Nicole Vorhies 21 assists, six digs, two aces.
“Overall, we did many good things on the court, but it was not enough to overcome the very strong Timberwolves team,” Druivenga said.
Stanton ended the season 21-15 and graduate Devin Isaacson and Kami Tibben, as well as manager, Carlee Culbertson.
“All have been a huge part of the Viqueen program. We will miss their dedication, work ethic, and positive outlook. But going forward, we know that there will always be a little bit of them with us on the court in years to come.”