Tigers’ tale: fall in 5

CEDAR RAPIDS - There's no denying it. The New London volleyball team left it all out on the court on Tuesday night.

The 11th-ranked and sixth-seeded Tigers pushed No. 3 Gehlen Catholic to the limit, but it was the Jays who had just enough to limp over the finish line, toppling the Tigers in a five-set nail-biter (25-19, 13-25, 25-18, 14-25, 15-12).

The favored Gehlen Catholic team looked strong in the opener. New London's latest lead was 11-10, and from that point on, the Jays ended the set on a 15-8 run, brushing off a hot start from the Tigers' senior lefties Sofie Reighard and Marah Hartrick, who combined for 10 kills in the first set alone. Hartrick's last kill of the set cut the lead down to 23-18, but New London had to settle for a seven-point loss, and an early hole.

In the second set, the Tigeers let loose.

New London opened the game on an incredible 15-3 run. Emma Nye scored on an ace and a kill during the run. Paris Wilka had a big kill right in the middle, and Hartrick stretched the lead to 12 with a kill that had New London fans on their feet.

'We were feeling it,” Hartrick said. 'We came out in that second set and used the serve to push us ahead, and stay ahead.”

But the pendulum swung right back into Gehlen Catholic territory in the third. The Jays shook off an early 3-2 deficit and turned that into a 9-4 lead, and a New London time out. The Tigers clawed back to cut it to two points, at 19-17, but could never tie the set back up, and New London's back was squarely against the wall, down 2-1.

Gehlen Catholic scored the first two points of the fourth set, but New London wasn't done. The Tigers responded with an 8-1 run including a couple big kills from Wilka and an ace from Williams, which planted momentum squarely on the Tigers' side.

Much like they did in the second set, New London led by double-digits in the fourth. The Tigers hit that mark at 20-10, and nine points later, a Natalie Burden kill made it all even again, winning the game 25-14 and forcing a fifth set.

'We didn't want our season to end,” said Reighard. 'We wanted to give everything we possibly could.”

The deciding set was a true nail-biter. New London scored the first point on a kill by Reighard and held a 3-2 lead after five points. Gehlen Catholic, however, caught fire again to take an 8-4 lead.

Trailing by four points with their season on the line, the Tigers never said die. Hartrick stopped the run with a kill, and had another four points later that cut the lead to 10-8. Burden cut it to one, at 11-10, and the Tigers capitalized on a Gehlen Catholic error to knot things up at 11-11.

'These kids are not going to back away from anybody,” said NL head coach Maureen Heath. 'That's what makes me so proud.”

Unfortunately for the Tigers, Gehlen Catholic had the last laugh. The Jays scored the next three points, to take a 14-11 lead, and answered the following New London point with one of their own to close the match out, at 15-12.

'I liked that fifth set only because we won it,” said Gehlen Catholic head coach Mike Meyer.

Hartrick ended the night with 11 kills, a New London high.

'We all really wanted that fifth set,” said Hartrick. 'Sometimes it just doesn't go your way.”

Reighard ended the night with 10 kills. Burden had nine. Wilka and Sophie Malott finished with four apiece.

Elly Manning led the NL defense with 22 digs. Burden and Kyra Linkin had 20 apiece. Aliyah Christensen finished with 21 assists and Manning had 17.

The Tigers had only three service errors and ended the night with five aces. Williams led the way with two, and the trio of Linkin, Nye and Manning had one apiece.

The Jays move on to play seventh-seeded Burlington Notre Dame in Wednesday's quarterfinal. New London ended the year at 22-8. 'We never let up, and we truly gave everything that we could give,” said Reighard. 'I've never been more proud of my team.”