Tigers back on top

NEW LONDON - The twists and turns of the Southeast Iowa Super Conference South Division kept twisting and turning on Tuesday night. Just one week after falling out of first place, No. 8 (1A) New London is back on the top line after a sweep of the previously red-hot No. 14 (1A) WACO Warriors.

The Tigers pulled out two nail-biting wins in the first and second sets before running away with the third to earn a marquee victory, winning 25-20, 25-21, 25-11.

'It feels so good to get back on top,” said sophomore hitter Keaura Williams, who played strong all night. 'An to just play as a team and play the game.”

WACO led early, taking a 2-0 lead on a Morgan Graber kill and a 4-1 lead on a kill by Lona Farrier. New London scored the next four, including an ace from Williams to take their first lead at 5-4, and it was on from there.

The first set was tied 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8, and 11-11 before New London took their final lead on a Sofie Reighard kill. The Tigers stayed on top throughout the first set, utilizing aces from Aliyah Christensen, and Natalie Burden. Leading 24-20, senior hitter Marah Hartrick closed it out with a game-winning kill.

The second set was the best one of the three. After an early New London lead, WACO used a barrage of kills from Graber and Farrier to take their first lead at 10-9. New London wouldn't go back on top until a major serving run from Natalie Burden to close out the game.

WACO led 21-18 after a Molly McLaughlin kill, and the Warriors were in position to tie the match up. New London, however, scored the last seven points of the set, six of which came on service points by Burden, who picked up back-to-back aces on the Tigers' 23rd and 24th points. New London took Set 2 25-21 and the hometown Tigers had all the momentum.

New London came out on fire in the third set. Aliyah Christensen opened the game with a 6-point service streak that included two aces, and the Tigers never looked back after going up 6-0. In fact, New London led 16-2 after the first 18 points.

WACO made a little run to get within 10, at 18-8 on a Grace Coble ace. The Warriors were never able to get within striking distance, though, and the Tigers walked out with a huge win.

'This was a great conference win,” said New London head coach Maureen Heath. 'We had a big game plan, and I'm so happy with the girls, because they executed it very well.”

The Tigers dominated on the serve, finishing the night with 11 aces. Christensen had six aces on the night to lead the squad.

'Tonight was one of their best serving nights all year,” Heath said. 'I thought Aliyah did a great job.”

The win moved New London to 5-1 in conference play, right alongside WACO and West Burlington. No. 3 (1A) Holy Trinity had previously been undefeated, but WACO handed them their first conference loss last week and West Burlington beat the Crusaders in five on Tuesday night to knock them off the top line. The Tigers say WACO's win over HTC last week gave them a little boost, knowing they were right back in the thick of things.

'We were really pumped,” said Hartrick, one of New London's five seniors. 'We were keeping track of the WACO-Holy Trinity game on the way home from ours. When we saw they beat Holy Trinity, we knew we could get back in the race.”

Each of the one-loss South Division teams has two conference games left. On Thursday night, New London will travel to West Burlington and WACO will host Notre Dame. Next Tuesday, New London hosts Cardinal, while WACO travels to Van Buren County and West Burlington plays at Notre Dame.

'It's major in the conference race,” said Heath. 'It's do or die until the end.”