New London comes up one game short

OTTUMWA - No. 7 Montezuma gave No. 10 New London fits in the Class 1A regional volleyball final on Tuesday night. The Tigers gave the favored Bravettes a fight in the final two sets, but New London couldn't steal any sets in a 3-0 loss.

New London led early in all three of the sets but Montezuma's tough serving and excellent upper-classmen hitters were too much for the Tigers, who fell 25-13, 25-22 and 25-20.

New London had a fierce start to set one. The Tigers scored the first three points of the game, the third of which came on a kill by freshman Paris Wilka. The Tigers led 4-1 after five pionts, but Montezuma stormed back with a 14-3 run.

The Bravette lead was at 15-6 at one point, but New London cut the lead back to give, at 15-10, and then again at 16-11 on a kill by Addie Pry. Pry had three kills in the set, but Montezuma pulled away to take it 25-13.

The second set was the most exciting of the bunch. The two teams punched back and forth game long. Pry already had three kills and an ace in the first 15 points of the set. Her ace cut the Montezuma lead to 8-7.

The Bravettes held a steady lead throughout most of the game, due in part to their serving success and in part to leading hitters Riley Gatton and Shateah Wetering. Still, New London was able to stick right with the Bravettes, and eventually tied it at 17-17 on Pry's sixth kill of the set.

The two teams split the next six points to tie the game at 20-20. Kaylor Schulte came up with two big kills in a row to give the Tigers a 22-20 advantage, but the Bravettes closed the game out with five-straight points to pull out a 25-22 victory and steal all momentum leading into the third set.

'Against a tough team, just because it's 22-20 doesn't mean anything,” New London coach Maureen Heath said about the second set. 'That doesn't mean it's over. They were going to find those big girls, and they did. We tried to play the best defense we could, but then we tried to bring our offense back at them, and they got a block. We just weren't able to close on that second game.”

Montezuma began to run away with the third set, leading 17-10 at one point, but an ace by Pry sparked a Tiger run the cut the lead to as little as three points, at 18-15, 19-16 and 20-17. The Bravettes stretched the advantage back to five points, at 22-17, but New London cut it to three once again, at 23-20.

The Tiger comeback in set three ran out of time, however. Montezuma scored the final two points to ward off the Tigers, win the set 25-20, and complete the sweep.

Pry led the Tigers with 12 kills in the loss. Schulte finished with seve kills, and Wilka had two. Kristen Rohdy dished out 17 assists in the win. Chloe Coleman had 18 digs to lead the defense. Wilka finished the night with four blocks.

Montezuma's big two combined for 26 kills. Gatton finished the night with 16 kills, and Wetering collected 10.

'They definitely are the real deal,” said Heath about Montezuma's stars. 'I think they're a highly motivated team. They have a lot of senior leadership. But when you have those two hitters, it's hard to stop.”

Despite the loss, New London finished the year 28-10, and advanced to the regional final a year after losing six of their key players. The Tigers will lose five out of their rotation to the 2019 graduation; Coleman, Peyton Jackson, Sophie Lounsbury, Rohdy and Schulte. The team still has plenty of young talent, though, and could be right back in the mix next season.

'They are definitely young, so we'll have them around for a while,” Heath says. 'I think this will be a good reference on how much they need to work and improve. Never count us out for next year.”