Rams top Panthers, 3-1

Creston never fully recovered from a rough start Thursday as Glenwood closed the Hawkeye Ten volleyball season with a 3-1 victory.

The Rams started the night with a 9-1 flurry that ignited a 25-16 win in the first set.

Creston rebounded to tie the match with a 25-23 victory, before Glenwood won a pair of 25-17 games to close out the road victory.

“We came out sluggish in game one and dug a huge hole,” Creston coach Naomi Sharp said. “We made an effort to come back, but it was too little, too late. Game two was much better. We played tough defense and connected on more hits. The last two sets we were in at times, then we just let them go on some runs.”

Both teams ended up 5-5 in Hawkeye Ten play in a tie for sixth place. Red Oak was league champion at 10-0, followed by Kuemper Catholic at 9-1 and Lewis Central 8-2. Overall, Glenwood improved to 20-10 and Creston fell to 10-10 going into Saturday’s action at the Knoxville Tournament.

(The Panthers went 1-3 at the Knoxville Panther Invitational. Creston defeated Albia 23-21, 21-13. Knoxville won 2-1 over the Panthers, 21-15, 19-21, 15-11; Roland Story won 21-13, 21-8; and Decorah won 2-1 by scores of 21-13, 11-21, 15-11.)

Addie Madison, a 5-10 middle hitter, and outside hitter Kaylee Wray were the most consistent forces at the net for the Rams Thursday. Wray matched Creston’s Jaycee Hanson with 20 kills and Madison contributed 15 kills and two solo blocks.

“We just had too many errors, way more blocking errors than we’ve been having,” Sharp said. “But they’re good hitters. They started feeding the middles more and that seemed to make a difference.”

Efficiency, in both hitting and serving, had been a staple of Creston’s performance in winning three of the previous four matches. That wasn’t the case Thursday.

“We had seven service errors and just four aces,” Sharp noted. “I always say your errors can’t outweigh the aces. If they’re the same, that’s tic for tac, that’s OK. But when the errors are more, then we’re being too aggressive.”

The Panthers did have some spurts of effective offense.

“Jaycee Hanson led us with 20 kills and seven errors, which isn’t bad, and I thought Hope Henderson had her best night hitting with nine kills and only three errors,” Sharp said. “There were moments when we were finding the holes in the blocks. But we seemed to be out of system too many times and we didn’t capitalize on the long volleys.”

Career milestones

Four Creston players were honored prior to the match for reaching career milestones. Jaycee Hanson and Hollynn Rieck both reached 500 career digs, Kadley Bailey surpassed 1,000 assists and libero Avery Staver has accumulated 1,000 digs combined during her career at East Union and Creston.

Rieck served 17-19 with a pair of aces Thursday. Hanson not only was the hitting leader, but had a team-high 23 digs as well. Staver had 20. Setter Kadley Bailey had 35 assists, served 12-12, had 17 digs and five kills. Braylee Pokorny finished with three blocks. Nora Barton served 14-15 with two aces.

The Panthers (11-13 overall) begin Class 3A regional play 7 p.m. Tuesday at home against Centerville (17-13).

Glenwood 3, Creston 1

Serving (aces) — Creston: Nora Barton 14-15 (2), Hollynn Rieck 17-19 (2), Kadley Bailey 12-12, Avery Staver 10-11. Glen: Rylie Kendall 12-12, Alyssa Liddick 16-17, Cambree Smothers 18-19 (1).

Attacks (kills) — Creston: Jaycee Hanson 46-53 (20), Hope Henderson 24-27 (9), Braylee Pokorny 19-23 (6), Bailey 17-19 (5), Hollynn Rieck 21-27 (4). Glen: Kaylee Wray 37-39 (20), Addie Madison 32-34 (15), Ayrianna Legband 23-25 (8).

Blocks — Creston: Pokorny 3, Ella Turner 1, Bailey 1, Henderson 1. Glen: Madison 2, Legband 2.

Setting (assists) — Creston: Bailey 35, A. Staver 6, Henderson 2. Glen: Cambree Smothers 28, Liddick 17.

Digs — Creston: Hanson 23, A. Staver 20, Bailey 17, Rieck 14, Turner 4, Barton 3. Glen: Kendall 17, Smothers 15, Wray 15, Kanngieser 13.