New London back to regional finals

NEW LONDON - On Oct. 8, WACO handed New London a rare three-set conference loss, sweeping the Tigers in Wayland. Twenty-three days later, New London got the ultimate revenge, knocking the Warriors out of the regional tournament in four sets.

Seventh-ranked New London closed out the night by winning the final two sets, bouncing WACO from the regional semifinals and earning yet another regional final appearance. The Tigers won 25-15, 18-25, 25-19, 25-13.

'We knew it was going to be a huge game to win,” said senior hitter Addie Pry. 'And we knew WACO was good.”

Pry was ready from the first serve. She had five kills in the first set, leading the Tigers to a 10-point win. The Tigers jumped out to an 11-5 lead before the first timeout and then came out of that break with seven straight, leading 18-5.

'You've got to be ready and you've got to have a game plan,” said New London coach Maureen Heath. 'I felt like we did.”

WACO got one back in the second set. The game was tied 10-10 before a 5-0 Warrior run. New London couldn't recover as WACO built as much as an eight-point lead, at 24-16, and closed ito ut three points later. Ellie Miles nad Morgan Graber had four kills apiece in the set.

The Tigers bounced right back. New London led 5-2 after seven points and never let WACO tie the game again. Pry continued to haunt the Warriors, tallying six more kills and an ace to lead the Tigers to a 2-1 lead.

'I knew I had to get ready for the block that they were going to set up,” Pry said. 'Last time we played them, they pretty much destroyed me on their block.”

Set four looked like it was going to go back-and-forth. The set was tied 3-3 and 5-5 early. New London started to build on the lead, leading 11-7 at the first timeout. They'd come out of that break on fire, going on an 11-3 run to let the air out of WACO's tires.

'I thought we just kind of bled points at times,” said WACO coach Jay Coble. 'We kind of gave away points that isn't characteristic of us. I didn't think our defense was very good, and I didn't think our serve reception was up to snuff.”

Pry finished the night with 14 kills. Fellow senior Alexa Wenger had nine. Sofie Reighard finished with six.

Aliyah Christensen dished out 29 assists in the win. Kyra Linkin had 17 digs, and Reighard finished with eight blocks.

The Warriors were paced by Graber's 11 kills. Elli Miles had seven, and Lona Farrier finished with five.

Aubri Garnsey had 24 digs in the loss. Laney Graber, the only senior on WACO's team, finished with 28 assists.

WACO finished the year 23-12. They made the conference tournament finals for the first time in 15 years and their core group played in their first ever regional semifinal.

'I can't ask for anything more for a group of people than what they gave me,” Coach Coble said. 'Every single night, they came and they worked hard.”

New London moved to 29-8. They'll be in Ft. Madison on Tuesday, Nov. 5 for yet another all-the-marbles showdown with fierce rival No. 8 Holy Trinity. The winner of that game goes to the promise land; the Class 1A state tournament.

'She'll definitely have her group ready to go, and they're going to serve very tough,” says Coach Heath. 'We've got to dig up their offense and try and stay with them, get them out of system when we can. And we've got to keep swinging ourselves.”