Senior night setback

It was setting up as a sensational senior night for the Creston volleyball team that has struggled to find success much of the 2022 season.

After nine team members and a manager were honored with their parents prior to Tuesday’s home finale against Harlan, the Panthers, with just one conference victory this year, took a 2-0 lead against Harlan, the alma mater of Creston coach Teresa Arkfeld.

After the Panthers won those first two sets 25-23 and 25-22 in front of a boisterous home crowd, Harlan’s varied attack began to pelt the Panther defense on the way to tying the match at 2-2 with wins of 25-20 and 25-17.

Quick deficit

Fifth sets in Iowa high school volleyball only go to 15 points, so a fast start is vital. By winning the final serve in set four, Harlan had first serve and the Panthers were on their heels from the start in falling behind 6-2. During that stretch Creston had three attack errors while three different Cyclones — Ava Morrison, Haley Bladt and Macy Relschi — were effective with scoring attacks.

Samantha Ineson also had some key angled kill shots for Harlan, while Creston sent several free balls over the net to give the Cyclone offense a chance to reset. As the score reached 12-6, coach Arkfeld made sure each of her seniors had a chance to be on the court and Harlan finished out the decisive 15-7 win.

“We played well in the first two sets and I thought we played just as well in the third set, but I think we were to the point of getting tired and couldn’t finish,” Arkfeld said. “We were getting to our mistake phase, and that’s when they start getting down on themselves. When you get tired you have to remember the fundamentals and not give up on each other.”

In the end, Harlan was more consistent in staying with its offense, while Creston didn’t mount as many hard-hitting attacks down the stretch. Arkfeld said the difference in simply sending a ball over the net on the third touch as opposed to a well-designed pass-set-attack combination is very slight.

“Sometimes it’s passing errors, or not getting into position, or just not being ready,” Arkfeld said. “Little details. We are a scrappy team and I love that, but those details are how you finish.”

Harlan improved to 10-11 overall and 4-2 in the Hawkeye Ten Conference.

Panther seniors

Creston senior players ho

nored Tuesday were Keely Coen, Hayden Ray, Caitlin Bruce, Jacy Kralik, Brooklyn McKinney, Doryn Paup, Haylee Gillam, Kenna Tomas and Aleah Calvin, along with team manager Makenzi Baker.

Paup led Creston in four statistical categories Tuesday with 14 kills, 27 digs, three blocks and two ace serves. Kolby Bailey had seven kills and freshman Jaycee Hanson, who finished the first set with a deep kill, finished with six.

Setters Kadley Bailey and McKinney compiled 19 and 14 assists, respectively. Coen was active in the back row with 15 digs.

The Panthers, now 2-21 overall and 1-6 in the Hawkeye Ten, travel Thursday to Red Oak. The Tigers beat Shenandoah Tuesday 3-1 to improve to 12-11 overall and 5-1 in the conference.

“They will come out swinging at us and we’ll have to match that with our offense,” Arkfeld said.

Creston statistics

Kills — Doryn Paup 14, Kolbey Bailey 7, Jaycee Hanson 6.

Digs — Paup 27, Keely Coen 15.

Assists — Kadley Bailey 19, Brooklyn McKinney 14.

Service aces — Paup 2, Kadley Bailey 1, Kolbey Bailey 1.

Blocks - Paup 3, Aleah Calvin 1, Jacy Kralik 1, Kolbey Bailey 1.