Hawks bow to Saintes in Region 3 Finals

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The Woodward-Granger netters await introductions at a recent match. The Hawks are, from left: Emma Drake (7), Julie Pitman (3), Alyssa Bice (11), Ashley Gales (5), Ashlyn Soelberg (1), Marissa Pasker (15), Kaycee Major (16), Alissa Smeltzer (9), Anna Tague (10),

ATLANTIC — A season of success came to an end Tuesday for the Woodward-Granger volleyball team as the Hawks fell to fourth-ranked St. Albert, 3-0, in the Class 2A Region 3 Finals.

The Saintes (27-3) won the first set, 25-11, and the second 25-17 before securing a spot at the state tournament with a 25-23 win in the third set.

“We started off nervous, I think, but we finally settled in,” W-G head coach Meg Jackson said. “We didn’t play poorly, we just ran into a very good team, by far the best we have played this year.”

St. Albert had a 9-5 lead they turned into a 15-6 margin and then never looked back in winning the opening set. W-G had a 7-6 lead in the second set and were within striking range, down 15-11, when the Saintes pulled away for the 25-17 win.

“If you volley with them they are going to win 80 percent of the points,” Jackson said. “It really has to be a first-ball kill or you are in trouble. They keep the ball in play and hitting-wise they could just put the ball anywhere they want, and we simply had no answer.”

W-G (25-14) opened a 7-2 gap in set three, and led by margins of 11-6, 15-9 and 18-11. The Hawks held a 21-17 advantage before the Saintes tied the contest at 22-all. Eventually the Saintes prevailed, 25-23, ending an excellent season for the Hawks.

Sydney McLaren had 13 kills and 10 digs for St. Albert, with Emily Recher and Maggie Wettengal tallying 10 digs each. Bailey White had nine kills and served 12-of-13 with one ace, with Wettengal serving 15-15-1. Lexie Petry provided 35 assists, 10 digs and three kills while serving 14-16-2.

Ashley Gales led W-G with eight kills, with Alyssa Bice and Julie Pitman adding five apiece. Alissa Smeltzer had four kills and Anna Tague three, with Emma Drake and Natalie Weaver tallying one kill apiece. Gales finished with two blocks, with Bice, Pitman and Tague recording one block each.

Drake had 19 assists and Bice three, with Pitman making two, while Smeltzer, Kaycee Major and Katelyn Bandstra adding one apiece.

Major’s 13 digs were a team-high, with Ashlyn Soelberg making nine digs and Drake eight. Bandstra finished six digs, Marissa Pasker five, Tague two and Smeltzer one.

Pitman was 12-13-1 behind the line and Drake 10-10-1, with Soelberg 8-of-8, Bandstra 7-of-7, Major 6-of-7 and Tague 5-of-6.

W-G will lose the services of Bice, Gales, Major, Pasker and Pitman, the second consecutive season Jackson will have to replace five seniors. The Class of 2017 will finish with a 116-40 (.744) overall mark in four years, with a 30-2 (.938) WCAC record that includes three conference championships.

Little was expected of W-G this year, with most observers not believing the team would win 25 games or reach the regional finals.

“These girls showed up when they needed to and improved so much as the season went along,” Jackson said. “We were so much a better team now than we were midway through the season. I truly believe if we replayed our schedule we would win most of those matches we lost. They really buckled down and worked hard and have every reason to be proud.”

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