English Valleys defeats Iowa Valley in volleyball thriller

NORTH ENGLISH — It was a battle in North English Sept. 11 as conference rivals English Valleys and Iowa Valley faced off on the volleyball court.

A back-and-forth match ended with a fifth set win for the Bears that took extra points to decide.

Set one started with English Valleys (6-6) opening a sizable lead before the Tigers came roaring back with strong serving. Iowa Valley (2-15) fought its way back from a nine-point deficit early to capture the 28-26 win.

The Tigers kept rolling into set two and captured a 25-18 win to take a 2-0 match lead.

“A fine Iowa Valley team proved to be a challenge to us mentally, emotionally as well as physically. After we developed a comfortable lead in the first set, they came back to win with strong serving and attack” said English Valleys Coach Bob Barrick.

“They rode that momentum into the second set, and we faced a huge challenge.”

The Bears faced the challenge head on. A 25-15 third-set EV win and a follow up fourth-set victory, 25-14, set up the fifth-set tie-break.

“We met the challenge with improved passing and serving to even the match. The deciding set saw Iowa Valley take over early. We fought back the entire set and faced a 12-14 deficit at the end,” Barrick said.

English Valleys overcame the deficit to take the final set 18-16 and the match, 3-2.

“We really grew as a team to hang on to an exciting victory,” said Barrick.

On offense for the Bears, senior Kennedy Axmear notched 13 of the team’s 38 kills. Senior Delaney Hall contributed 19 assists. Senior Imigyn Stratton lead EV with five service aces.

Defensively, freshman Ava Gehrking blocked five balls, and Stratton lead the way with 19 digs.

The Tiger’s offensive stats included 17 kills from junior Lydia Kriegel, 38 assists from junior Izzy Kriegel and five aces while serving from Kennady Rathjen, a senior.

Defensively, senior Ella Read and Lydia Kriegel each contributed three blocks while senior Lola Frimml racked up 17 digs.

English Valleys defeats Keota in four sets

KEOTA — English Valleys volleyball traveled south Sept. 14 to face Keota. The Bears won three of four to win the match.

Keota (5-4) hung close, but EV closed out set one with a 26-24 victory. Set two offered a little extra breathing room as the Bears won 25-15.

The Eagles still had some fight in them and snatched a 25-22 win to make the match a little more interesting. EV took care of business and closed things out with a 25-19 set win and 3-1 match score.

“We had to step up our serving and attack to win the final set. This was again a team win. Each of us struggled at times during the match, but others stepped up to ensure the win,” said EV Coach Barrick.

Ava Gehrking had a good night, notching nine kills on offense and six blocks on defense to lead the team in both categories. Gehrking also tied for the team lead on service aces with Haydn Bender and Imigyn Stratton; each had three.

Delaney Hall and Libby Armstrong each contributed 19 digs.

Belle Plaine wins on the road

MARENGO — Belle Plaine rolled into Marengo Sept. 14 and took three straight sets from the Iowa Valley volleyball squad. The Plainsmen (9-6) won 25-23, 25-21 and 25-15 to claim the win.

Belle Plaine rode a 91.8% serve efficiency, including 12 aces, and a 14-7 lead in total blocks to stifle the Tigers efforts. Iowa Valley did put away more kill shots in the match, 32-22.

Belle Plaine leaders on offense were senior Jayce Reineke, with nine kills, and junior Layne McCleod, with 14 assists. McLeod also served up 7 aces.

Junior Kayleah Laughlin blocked six shots, and senior Alyssa Steinback added nine digs.

Iowa Valley leaders included Lydia Kriegel, with 14 kills, Izzy Kriegel, with nine assists, and Ella Read, with 8 digs. Three tied with two blocks apiece, both Kriegels and Read.

Iowa Valley wins one at Lisbon Tourney

LISBON — The Tiger volley team participated in the Lisbon Invitational Tournament Saturday and came away with a 1-3 record.

Iowa Valley fell to West Burlington (20-3) in two sets, 21-6, 21-6 to start the day. Next up was host Lisbon, who boasted a 12-1 record and after winning set one, 21-8, had its hands full with the Tigers in set two. The Lions won 23-21, but it took overtime to do it.

The third match was against Mediapolis (7-6), who took both sets from IV, 21-7 and 21-15.

Match four saw a change in momentum as the Tigers grabbed two straight from Midland (2-13), 21-18 and 21-17.