March 28, 2024

Veteran Warriors spoil Creston’s opener, 3-0

Image 1 of 2

The tables were turned this year, and Norwalk took advantage of its veteran status to earn a 25-23, 25-21, 25-16 sweep in Tuesday’s Creston volleyball opener here.

Last year, Creston’s senior and junior dominated team swept the Warriors in the debut of Brad Bixby as Norwalk coach. Tuesday night, after Tori VanVelzen smacked 10 kills along with nine blocks to lead his team, Bixby saw the teams in reversed roles.

This time, it was a mix of veterans with new freshmen and sophomores in Creston uniforms for the varsity match.

“They graduated some really tough kids,” Bixby said. “(Natalie) Mostek was just a stud athlete, and they had the same setter (Hanna Luther) for who knows how long? But they have some good kids back. They’ll be a good volleyball team.”

Creston coach Polly Luther agreed.

“I told the girls, you are the team of 2015, and you have to be you,” she said. “That’s hard to do sometimes, make that transition. Everything will be different. We just have to get to know each other. We’re going to get better.”

Another factor not in the Panthers’ favor Tuesday was Norwalk’s chance to work out the kinks already in several matches, improving to 6-3 for the season already.

“We’ve played in two tournaments, and they’re just starting,” Bixby said. “We have a lot of juniors and seniors. We think we’ll be OK. But in our league, Pella didn’t graduate anybody, and DC-G has such a number of kids, they’re always pretty good. We’ll see.”

Gabby Ridgeway had a team-high 12 kills for the Warriors. Morgan Taylor added eight. Setter Ryley Harris had 28 assists and served three aces.

“Their setter is good,” Luther said. “Their coach, when he took over last year, I knew he would tone things up over there. He coaches club year-round.”

Creston was in position deep into each of the first two games to emerge victorious. Junior hitter Hannah Hood went down with an ankle injury early in the match and was taken to Greater Regional Medical Center for X-rays.

The Panthers settled down and took a 19-15 lead before Norwalk seized the momentum, holding a 10-4 advantage the rest of the way for the 25-23 win. Taylor had three kills down the stretch for the Warriors.

The second set was tight all the way, with rarely more than a two-point difference until Norwalk pulled away from a 20-20 deadlock for the 25-21 win. Harris served the final two points, including an ace, and VanVelzen had a big block when Norwalk was clinging to a 22-21 lead.

“They have a lot of firepower,” Luther said. “They swung at almost everything, and we did not. Part of that is confidence. It makes a difference that they’ve played so much already, being in the Des Moines area and having access to that stuff.”

Creston also led in game three, 12-10, but it was downhill from there. Norwalk’s 8-0 run soon after stretched its lead to 19-12. A kill by Sydney Dunphy finally stopped the run, but it was too late as hitting errors accounted for two of the final Norwalk points in the 25-16 final.

Luther said statistics in the first match of the year may not be complete, as it was training night for everyone, but Dunphy and Angela Sorensen were credited with a team high five kills each. Libero Jami Sickels had 10 digs.

Freshman setter Jaxie Luther, Alyssa Higgins and Dunphy were all perfect at the service line. Alli Thomsen finished 13-14.

Creston travels to Clarinda Thursday.

Creston statistics

Serving (aces) — Alli Thomsen 13-14, Jaxie Luther 10-10 (1), Alyssa Higgins 9-9, Sydney Dunphy 8-8, Gracie Russell 8-9, Jami Sickels 4-5.

Attacks (kills) — Dunphy 5, Angela Sorensen 5, Luther 4, Jenna Taylor 4, Cayla Maitlen 4, Megan Haley 3.

Blocks (solo-assists) — Sorensen 1-2, Taylor 1-1, Maitlen 0-1, Luther 0-1, Dunphy 0-1.

Setting (assists) — Luther 16, Russell 8.

Digs — Sickels 10, Higgins 9, Thomsen 5, Dunphy 5, Luther 4, Russell 3, Ashley Bargstadt 2.

Junior varsity

Creston won a tight set, 27-25, to start junior varsity play Tuesday against Norwalk, before the Warriors came back to win 25-12, 18-16.

Taylor Buxton led Creston with eight kills. Brielle Baker and Breanna Wallace each had three ace serves.

“I saw some really great things and was happy with the effort by the girls,” Creston coach Jessie McClellan said. “We have girls stepping into new roles and I anticipate improvement as the season goes on. We need to work on communication and making better decisions. I’m excited to see how we look on Thursday!”

Freshmen

The Creston freshmen opened the 2015 season with a 25-17, 17-25, 15-9 victory over Norwalk.

Caitlyn Bargstadt was 16-17 serving, Breanna Ross finished 11-12, Keisa Stewart was 10-13 and Laura Weis ended 5-9.

“Tonight was a good confidence builder for us,” coach Mike McCabe said. “The kids did a nice job for the first time out. We were very nervous. The team served well and handled serve receive pretty well. Lots to improve on, but lots of positives, too.”