A tall obstacle to overcome
A-W sweeps H-M-S in regional quarterfinal
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MIKE PETERSEN/SENTINEL-NEWS
Senior Paige Gehrke greets Jasmine Lux as she comes off the court during regional action against Akron-Westfield.
Another rematch with a War Eagle Conference opponent was Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn's challenge in the second round of the Class 1A regional volleyball tournament.
Playing Akron-Westfield on Oct. 14 at Remsen, the Hawks were unable to reverse the outcome of the regular season meeting six days earlier at Akron. The result was another loss to the Westerners, who won in three sets (25-19, 25-20, 25-19).
The Hawks had more total attacks (92-82) than Akron-Westfield, but they also had more hitting errors (24-11). The Westerners enjoyed a 33-21 edge in kills, led by 6'4" Natalie Nielsen who had 12. She also had three solo blocks.
"We were putting the ball over the net and they were able to put it over for a kill," Hawk coach Cheryl Kroese noted. "Hitting efficiency hurt us. Ours was in the negative while theirs was pretty good."
The Hawks had early success in the opening set, but could not keep the Westerners from earning the win. H-M-S used a late scoring run in the second set to take a 19-18 lead, but Akron-Westfield proved too strong. H-M-S's late rally in the final set also fell short.
"We had a good game plan and worked really hard, but we couldn't compete in the long run," Kroese said. "In volleyball, what it boils down to is consistency at all times."
Individually, Jasmine Lux and Ava Reitsma each had six kills and Darby Mastbergen added four. Taya Mason contributed 20 set assists.
The Hawks were nearly perfect in serving, missing just once in 55 attempts. Jessica Riedemann was 13-of-13; Mastbergen was 10-of-10 with four aces; Grace Dalen was 12-of-13 with two aces; Kaley Pearson was 8-of-8; Abby Kunzman was 7-of-7; and Mason was 4-of-4.
On defense, Mastbergen had 10 digs, Mason had nine, Riedemann had seven and Dalen had six. Lux had a pair of block assists.
• Graduate six seniors
H-M-S finishes the 2020 season with a record of 6-16 overall. In the War Eagle Conference, the Hawks were 1-9, tied for 10th place with West Sioux.
Kroese said she hoped H-M-S would finish with a better record and a higher conference finish, but she is pleased with the players' attitude and work ethic throughout the season.
"I'm proud of them on and off the court," she said.
This year's seniors were major contributors. They include leaders in set assists (Taya Mason) and digs (Jessica Riedemann), and three of the Top 4 in kills (Ava Reitsma, Darby Mastbergen and Olivia Grooters). Paige Gehrke is also a senior.
"We're going to have a lot to replace," Kroese acknowledged.
