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HLV-TC tops Iowa Valley in straight sets
Setter Kupka totals 26 assists
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
VICTOR — Iowa Valley made them work for it, but HLV-TC took all three sets for a sweep in a South Iowa Cedar League volleyball matchup Monday.
After a 25-10 first set win, the Warriors won the next two sets by tighter margins of 25-22 and 25-21.
The win marked three straight conference wins for the Warriors, who are now 3-1.
“I think just playing with a lot of energy is key,” setter Erilea Kupka said of the team’s 3-1 start. “If we have a lot of energy, we play good.”
Running a 5-1 offense, Kupka does nearly all the setting for the Warriors.
Coming off a freshman campaign of 523 assists, Kupka has 283 so far this season, with 26 of those coming Monday.
In a balanced offensive attack from the Warriors, five different players produced four to seven kills. Nicole Gensley and Abbi Tharp each had seven to lead the way.
Kupka has worked to build chemistry with each one, as some have stepped into bigger roles this season.
“Its been a lot of hard work at practice,” Kupka said. “Just trying to build chemistry on and off the court and making those bonds. We have a good group of girls this year, and they’re all strong hitters.”
After a convincing set-one win for HLV-TC, Iowa Valley took control midway through set two.
After being tied at seven, the Tigers went on an 11-4 run to claim an 18-11 lead.
Claray Fry had consecutive blocks, and Maggie Kriegel and Kamryn Wittenback each had kills in the run.
After a timeout, the Warriors went to work on cutting the deficit.
Gensley, Tharp and Karley Moore all had kills in the rally back. The Warriors took the lead at 22-21, closing the set on a 14-3 run.
“We definitely just had to fix our passing,” Kupka said. “They were serving hard at us and we had to adjust.”
Set three was the opposite of set two. HLV-TC jumped to a 15-9 lead, but it was the Tigers this time who would claw back into it.
Iowa Valley took the lead 20-19 after an Olyvia Grant ace.
Gensley responded with a kill and block. The Tigers tied it up one more time at 21 with a Taylor Fay kill, but the Warriors closed the set out on a 4-0 run.
HLV-TC (8-10) will be at English Valleys Thursday, and Iowa Valley (2-16) was right back into action Tuesday against Lynnville-Sully.
