Plainsman volleyball ends season in round two of playoffs

SIGOURNEY — The Belle Plaine volleyball team entered the first round of the playoffs with a 19-13 record and home game against Baxter Monday, Oct. 16.

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They exited the night with a three-set victory and a second-round match against Sigourney.

The Plainsmen knocked out Baxter (6-20) with wins of 25-15, 25-9, and 25-12. Jayce Reineke knocked down 12 kills and had 14 digs, Layne McLeod contributed 21 assists and Alyssa Steinback notched 14 digs and seven ace serves.

“We played a strong match against Baxter all the way around. We started slow but picked up some great balls defensively to push us into a great win,” said Plainsmen Coach April Kressley.

Wednesday, Oct. 18, was a tougher test against the Savages of Sigourney on its home court. In set one, Sigourney (17-8) got ahead early and never let up, winning the set 25-11. The Plainsmen had it close early at 5-4, but the Savages pulled ahead and won the set 25-15.

Then something happened in the huddle between sets two and three. Belle Plaine came out hot and never trailed in the set after taking a 5-4 lead. Sigourney kept it tight, but BP prevailed 25-19.

The Savages took control again in the fourth set and closed out the match with a 25-11 set win and 3-1 match score.

“I knew we had to pass well to be dominant. Unfortunately, our serve receive was not at its best so we struggled throughout the entire match,” said Kressley.

Leading season statistics for Belle Plaine were 560 assists for McLeod, 238 Reineke kills, 55 blocks for Janessa Blomme, 340 digs and 82 service aces by Steinback.

“We are going to miss our seniors greatly, as they were great players but also extremely good leaders, said Kressley.

”We have a strong class of five Juniors, so I look forward to seeing how they step up to lead us through another great season in 2024.“