MARSHALLTOWN — Highly-regarded Grundy Center (31-8) brought an end to a strong season for Woodward-Granger (22-11) Thursday in their Class 2A Region 4 Semifinal at the MHS Roundhouse.
The Spartans swept to the 3-0 win behind scores of 25-12, 25-12 and 25-22. Grundy Center finished with a stellar 72-of-74 serving clip that included nine digs. The team had 39 kills and used 57 digs to frustrate the W-G attack.
Natalie Weaver had five kills and Elly Polich four for the Hawks, with Katelyn Scharlau making three kills, Katelyn Bandstra two and Brayten Ashman one. Emma Drake had nine assists, with Polich and Bandstra each providing two and Scharlau and Darby Nixon one apiece.
Polich finished with 11 digs and Bandstra with eight, with Weaver having seven, Drake and Nixon six apiece and Faith Keuhl one.
W-G also served well, connecting on 45-of-48 with six aces, but simply could not control the game consistently enough to overwhelm their opponent while behind the line.
Polich was 13-14-4, Bandstra 13-14-1 and Weaver 7-7-1, with Drake 4-of-5, Scharlau 4-of-4, Keuhl 3-of-3 and Nixon 1-of-1.
The Hawks were 10-10 Sept. 21 but then caught fire, rolling off 12 consecutive victories and dropping only four sets through October leading up to Thursday’s battle.
Bandstra, Drake and Scharlau all played their final games for head coach Bailey Hunt, with Ashland James also a senior on the team.
