Panther efficiency leads to regionals sweep

The Panthers (12-13) put together an impressive performance Tuesday, sweeping Centerville (17-14) in the Class 3A Region 4 quarterfinals at home.

“I knew we played a lot harder teams throughout our season than they had,” coach Naomi Sharp said. “I just wanted us to bring that intensity that we had against those teams in this game.”

Through three sets, the Panthers outscored the Big Reds 75-35, winning 25-11, 25-11 and 25-13.

Other than a few moments early in the second set, Creston led almost the entire night, being up as many as 14 points. In the third set, the Panthers started with a 6-0 lead.

Leading the attack for the Panthers were Hollynn Rieck and Jaycee Hanson, each with 10 kills. They were set up by Kadley Bailey with 31 assists.

“By far, one of our best hitting percentages. We had 39 kills and only eight errors so that alone speaks volumes,” Sharp said. “We came out tonight swinging, knowing we wanted to hit the ball hard.”

On defense, libero Avery Staver had a team-high 15 digs. Rieck added 14.

At the net, Pokorny had three blocks including two solo. Senior Ella Turner also added two solo blocks.

“We played together as a team,” Staver said. “We had a good defense. Their serves are pretty good. They had some hard servers.”

After winning the first set by such a large margin, Staver said they had to stay ready for the second set.

“Don’t let down just because we beat them a lot in the first set,” she said. “We have to keep our foot on the pedal and keep getting kills.”

The team served up seven aces, led by Bailey and Staver with two apiece. Rieck, Hanson and junior Nora Barton each had one.

The game marked Creston’s last home performance for the team’s seniors.

“It was happy because we won but it’s sad because it’s the last time we are playing here,” Hanson said.

This is the second year in a row the team won the opening round of the postseason. Thursday evening, Creston played Clarinda in the Region 4 semifinals, but results were unavailable by press time. Follow @crestonnews and @larrypeterson on X for live results.