Pekin?s run ends in Mediapolis

MEDIAPOLIS ? Pekin?s Cinderella run in the volleyball postseason came to an end Thursday when the Panthers ran into the Mediapolis Bulldogs in the Class 2A regional semifinal.

Pekin had previously defeated Cardinal and Sigourney in the playoffs to set up the showdown with Mediapolis. The winner would advance to the regional final for a chance to play at state.

The Bulldogs brought a stout 31-7 record into the match against Pekin?s 12-17 mark. Mediapolis was too much for the Panthers to handle as the Bulldogs rolled to a three-set victory with scores of 25-10, 25-15 and 25-7.

Maci Gambell had 14 digs and five kills for the Panthers, along with a service ace. Haley Gambell collected six assists and three kills to go with nine digs. Whitney Johnson contributed 15 digs. Kennedy Coleman pitched in with six assists. Faith Oostra had three kills and a solo block.

?We knew Mepo would be a tough obstacle to overcome,? said Pekin head coach Ken Hutchinson. ?However, we felt that if we could pass off their serve, then we would compete on the night.?

Hutchinson said one of his team?s weak points is receiving serves, and Mediapolis has a squad of very strong servers.

?We started the first set in a 9-0 hole because of serve-receive,? he lamented. ?We just couldn?t pass their serve in an area that would allow us to run offense.?

Pekin did a much better job of receiving the Bulldogs? serves in the second set.

?The first half of the second set was anyone?s game,? said Hutchinson, remarking about how the teams traded one kill after another. Near the halfway mark, Mediapolis took control and carried that momentum into the final set.

?They started the third set with solid serving and again we struggled to pass,? said the coach.

The Panthers say goodbye to four seniors: Gabi Rutherford, Hazel Ward, Aspen Clark and Kaitlyn Conger. Clark played in 39 sets this year and amassed a good percentage from the service line where she went 63-70 with five aces. She also contributed 20 assists. Rutherford played in 22 sets, and went 13-15 from the service line.

Ward played in 61 sets where she picked up four kills, 90 digs and six assists with a serving mark of 14-17. Conger played in all 79 sets this year. She was fourth on the team in blocks with 23 and fourth in kills with 69.

The good news for the Panthers is that they have a solid core of experienced players returning for 2017. Most of their statistical leaders are either juniors or sophomores.

Junior Maci Gambell led the team in kills this season with 146, averaging 1.85 per set. She was also the team?s strongest server both by percentage and number of aces. She went 257-280 (92 percent) from the line with 56 aces. She was also second on the team in digs with 234 and contributed six blocks.

The sophomore combo of Haley Gambell and Ellie Ledger put together a fantastic year on the court. Haley was second on the team in kills with 101, and Ledger was right behind her with 96. Haley finished with 49 aces on 229-259 serving (88 percent), while again Ledger was not far behind with 28 aces on 146-167 serving (87 percent).

Ledger led the team in blocks with 45, and added 17 digs and one assist. Haley led the team in assists with 220, was third in digs with 168 and pitched in 15 blocks.

Oostra has proven she belongs at the varsity level, too. In her junior season, Oostra was second on the team in blocks with 33 while picking up 52 kills. Junior Paige Winn had 22 kills to go with 112-132 (85 percent) serving, 16 aces and 25 blocks.

Johnson, another junior, led the Panthers in digs with 317 and was one of their best servers as she went 209-228 (92 percent) with 20 aces. Coleman, a junior, went 170-188 (90 percent) in serving while compiling 20 aces. She was also second on the team in assists with 162 to go with 65 digs.