Trojans sweep Spartans in three

The combination of North Iowa’s serving and hitting from the Trojans’ Kennedy Meister proved to be too much for Southwestern during a 3-0 sweep in a home nonconference match Wednesday night.

North Iowa (14-4 overall) came away with an 9-2 edge in aces while Meister had a match-high 11 kills as the Trojans won 25-10, 25-22, 25-13.

“Our serve-receive is what got us. We could not (get) sideouts right away after the first ball,” Spartans co-head coach Shaela Camp said.

Kayla Lentz and Becca Steffen served three aces apiece to spark North Iowa. Tessa Sienknecht, Shelby Heston and Alexa Loftus also scored a point from the serving line.

The Trojans produced the first four points in the first set before a kill from Meister made it 5-1. That sparked a 7-2 North Iowa run that made it 11-3.

A bad serve and a kill from Cayla Maitlen pulled the Spartans within a six-point margin before a kill from Steffen got it back for the Trojans.

“Their strongest hitter was (Kennedy Meister), who has the most kills on the team,” Camp said. “I was telling our middles (Paige Oldenkamp, Hanna Gray and Brooke Halterman) to cheat over to that side to get the block (against her).”

Meister entered Wednesday with 253 kills while averaging 14.9 kills per match.

Maitlen finished with 10 of the 21 kills the Spartans recorded.

Meister delivered a kill late in Set 1 to hand the Trojans a 20-9 lead before North Iowa overcame a hitting error to score the final five points of the set.

Southwestern gained some confidence in Set 2 by taking leads of 8-7, 9-8 and 12-9, the Spartans’ biggest advantage of the match.

After trailing 6-3 in the second set, Southwestern went on a 9-3 run that featured a kill and a block from Gray, a kill from Maitlen and one kill each from Oldenkamp and Halterman.

But that’s where North Iowa turned the tide from the serving line. The Trojans ran off 10 consecutive points for a 19-12 lead as Lentz had a trio of aces and Meister stepped up for a pair of blocks.

The Spartans responded with a 9-3 rally that put Southwestern down 22-21 on a kill from Maitlen. However, North Iowa scored the final three points to post a Set 2 win.

The Trojans went on an 11-2 run in the third set to build a 16-7 lead before limiting the Spartans to five rallies of two points or less the rest of the way.

“This, honestly, was the best game that I have seen our girls play because they played hard, hustled after every ball, they didn’t let things drop. I was proud of them,” Camp said.

UP NEXT — Southwestern (3-13) hosts Marshalltown and Grand View JV in a doubleheader that takes place at 1 and 5 p.m., respectively, Saturday.

North Iowa 3, Southwestern 0

Southwestern statistics

Serving (aces) — Taylor Buxton 9-9 (0), Hanna Gray 8-8 (0), Cayla Maitlen 7-7 (0), Yasmine Cribb 7-8 (1), Breanna Ross 4-4 (0), Brooklyn Herr 3-3 (1), Paige Oldenkamp 1-3 (0), Brooke Halterman 1-1 (0), Kelcie Gaines 1-2 (0). Team — 41-45 (2).

Attacks (kills) — Maitlen 21-26 (10), Gray 12-14 (4), Oldenkamp 10-18 (3), Halteman 7-10 (2), Ross 5-5 (0), Riley Jewett 5-10 (0), Buxton 4-4 (0), Herr 3-4 (1), Gaines 2-2 (1), Cribb 1-1 (0). Team — 69-94 (21).

Blocks — Halterman 1, Gray 1, Oldenkamp 1. Team — 3.

Setting (assists) — Ross 11, Herr 7. Team — 18.

Digs — Cribb 14, Buxton 9, Maitlen 7, Gray 6, Ross 5, Gaines 5, Herr 3, Jewett 2, Halterman 1, Oldenkamp 1. Team — 53.

Doubleheader split

Southwestern earned its third win this season with a 3-0 victory over the Graceland JV team in the first match of a doubleheader Saturday in Lamoni.

Oldenkamp had eight kills, Ross set up 19 assists, Taylor Buxton led with three aces and Cribb made 21 digs. Maitlen added 12 digs.

Graceland JV won the second match 3-1 as Maitlen (20 digs, 10 kills), Oldenkamp (eight kills), Ross (16 assists), Buxton (15 digs) and Halteman (three blocks) were the Southwestern leaders.

Swept at Iowa Lakes

Southwestern dropped three consecutive sets in a loss at Iowa Lakes Sept. 11 in Estherville.

The Spartans were led by Buxton (10 digs, six kills), Maitlen (12 digs, five kills), Ross (19 assists) and Cribb (23 digs).