‘Close, not close enough’

Victory slips away from Panthers against Red Oak

The old saying goes "close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades."

Unfortunately, the Creston volleyball team was playing neither horseshoes nor with hand grenades here Monday, as the Panthers fell to Red Oak 25-21, 23-25, 25-19, 27-29, 10-15.

The Panthers held match point with a 24-23 lead over Red Oak in the fourth game, but couldn't finish out the set, as the Tigers, ranked fourth in Class 3A, went on to take the set 29-27.

"That was discussed after all was said and done," Creston head coach Polly Luther said. "And that's something that's inexperience with winning, not knowing how to close the deal. I'd like to talk it up to because we're young, but we've been playing. That's something that mentally we have to figure out. We got close, not close enough."

The game four loss came as a crushing blow to a Panther team looking for a marquee win over one of the top-tier teams in the rugged Hawkeye 10 Conference, and also looking to finish with a winning regular season record for the second straight year.

In the fifth and final game — a race to 15 — Red Oak took early command, bolting to a 9-2 lead thanks to three straight blocks by 6-1 middle hitter Grace Blomstedt.

But the Panthers didn't give in, and battled back to make the score 13-10 on a kill by Nicole Haley, forcing Red Oak head coach Angela Montgomery to call a timeout.

The Panthers couldn't hold momentum coming out of the timeout, however, as Kate Walker drilled back-to-back kills to give Red Oak the victory.

Natalie Mostek led the Panthers with 13 kills and six solo blocks. Jenna Taylor added 10 kills. Angie Sorensen finished with eight kills and two solo blocks with three block assists.

Two other Panther players who made big impacts were Haley and Sydney Dunphy.

Haley stepped up big for the Panthers late in that final game, while Dunphy was a key part of the Panther attack throughout the match with eight kills, while also serving three aces. Haley also recorded eight kills.

"Those two, we have been back and forth with JV, varsity, JV, varsity, and we went with those two over the weekend and they stepped up and did a good job there," Luther said. "With them, it's all mental. They have to know how good they are and know that they can do that. By golly, they went out tonight and they did some great things."

Hanna Luther set 43 assists for the Panthers and served 19-of-20 with four aces.

Creston played a much more competitive match against the Tigers Monday than it did over the weekend at the Winterset Tournament.

Red Oak defeated the Panthers 25-22, 25-18 in the Winterset Tournament on Saturday. Just two days later, the Panthers found themselves one point away from knocking off the rated Tigers.

"I knew we would come in here and play a lot tougher than we did at Winterset," Luther said. "I knew how bad they wanted it. In practices, they've been working their tails off. Those girls wanted to be in the gym last night and hit the ball around, and that says something about them. It says something about their work ethic and where they want to be."

Prior to the match, two Panther senior players and one senior manager were honored in a senior night ceremony.

Senior players honored were Audrey Fyock and Olivia Nielsen, while Shelbi McIntosh was honored as a senior manager.

"Great kids," Luther said. "I've said that about the whole team — I just have great girls to work with. You talk about two senior leaders — they're just phenomenal kids. Not just on the court or in school, but outside of school, they're just great people."

The Panthers finish the regular season with a record of 12-13 and a 2-8 mark in the rugged Hawkeye 10 Conference.

Creston returns to action next Monday at Glenwood in the opening round of Class 4A regional play.

Creston statistics

Serving (aces) — Haylee LaMasters 12-12, Hanna Luther 19-20 (4), Natalie Mostek 14-15, Sydney Dunphy 19-21 (3), Brenna Baker 14-15 (2), Alli Thomsen 15-15

Attacks (kills) — Natalie Mostek 13, Jenna Taylor 10, Sydney Dunphy 8, Angie Sorensen 8, Nicole Haley 8

Blocks (solo-assists) — Natalie Mostek 6-0, Angie Sorensen 2-3, Jenna Taylor 1-2, Nicole Haley 0-1

Setting (assists) — Hanna Luther 43

Digs — Natalie Mostek 15, Jami Sickels 12, Haylee LaMasters 11, Alli Thomsen 8, Brenna Baker 7.

Junior varsity

The Creston JV volleyball team fell to Red Oak in three sets here on Monday.

Ashley Harris led the team with eight kills, while Josie Sickels had four digs and Alyssa Higgins finished with six ace serves.

"I couldn't have asked for better leaders this year," Creston JV coach Jessie McClellan said. "Audrey and Olivia come to practice every day and set a good example for our younger girls — not only on the court, but they get good grades, stay out of trouble and are respectful to others. To me, they are the prime example of kids we want to send out into the real world. I hope they know how valued they are by our entire team. What a great season for all of us. I had so much fun with all of our girls."

The Panther JV team finished the season with an 18-5-1 record.

Freshmen

The Creston freshman team fell to Red Oak 16-25, 17-25, 5-25, 14-15.

"The kids battled to the end," Creston freshman coach Mike McCabe said. "They came a long way this season, really improved their skills. The offseason will be important in order to continue progressing."

The Panther freshmen finish the season with a 0-21-1 record.