MARSHALLTOWN — A season that exceeded realistic expectations ended Friday for the Woodward-Granger volleyball team, as the Hawks fell to No. 7 Grundy Center, 3-0, in a Class 2A Region 5 Semifinal at Marshalltown’s Roundhouse.
Grundy Center (29-8) won behind scores of 25-10, 25-18 and 25-20. The loss eliminates W-G (29-9) and is the only defeat this season for the Hawks against a school in their own class.
The Spartans opened with a hot hand, racing to a 10-1 lead in the first game.
“Even when we got down like that I was no freaking out,” W-G head coach Meg Jackson said. “We started out having real trouble with our serve receive, but I knew that Kara (Bodensteiner) and Bree (Lesch) were good enough (in the back row) that they would adjust and they did — after that first spurt, I think we only had two aces against us.”
Unfortunately for W-G enough damage had been done that they could not recover in the opening set.
“In the last two games we volleyed with them like crazy and had some really long points, but they were always able to make one more play on the ball than us, which is a sign of a really good team,” Jackson explained. “We were able to get them out of their system and had them running all over the court most of the match, but, again, they just were a little too tough.”
Olivia McCune had seven kills, Mary Hansen six and Lesch five for the Hawks, with Hansen and Alyssa Bice distributing seven assists apiece while McCune and Julie Pitman both had blocks at the net.
Bodensteiner finished with 19 digs, with Lesch adding 15 digs and Kaycee Major 11. Riley Kirton served 11-of-12 with an ace, with McCune 9-9-1 and Hansen 6-7-1 behind the line while Lesch was 10-of-10 serving.
Grundy Center advances to face sixth-ranked and defending state champion Dike-New Hartford (36-9) Monday in the Region 5 Final in Parkersburg.
The Spartans relied heavily on five of their six seniors, a situation entirely different from the Hawks, who lose only Mikayla Saak for next season.
“Mikayla may have had a limited amount of time on the court, but she played an important role for us and will be missed,” Jackson said. “We have six juniors and four sophomores returning next year who saw lots of playing time, and have other girls who also had their moments, so I like where we are as a program.
“This was a tough loss, but I am in no way disappointed in how they play, not disappointed at all,” she concluded. “These girls leave and breathe volleyball and I know they will be working hard and already thinking about next year very soon.”
