NEOLA — Host Tri-Center entered Monday’s Class 2A Region 3 Quarterfinal ranked eighth in the state and with a lofty 27-2 record. They defeated Woodward-Granger, 25-21, in the first set and appeared well on their way to advancing to the semifinal round.
The Trojans had only one problem — a Hawk squad that might have been impressed, but was clearly not intimidated.
W-G (24-13) rallied for wins of 25-23, 29-27 and 27-25 to stun Tri-Center and earn a spot in Thursday’s semifinal against Fort Dodge St. Edmond (18-13), who was a 3-2 winner over IKM-Manning Monday. No site had been set for the Thursday semifinal at press time.
The winner will advance to the Region 3 Final Oct. 31, which is currently set to be play at Underwood. AC/GC (21-9) faces host and fourth-ranked St. Albert (25-3) in the other semifinal.
W-G could have caved in and crawled away after dropping the first set and then finding themselves trailing by five points in set two, but the Hawks rallied to tie the match with a 25-23 win.
The Hawks fought off multiple surges and a vocal crowd for a 29-27 third set victory, then cemented the upset by erasing a six-point deficit to win set four, 27-25.
“Our defensive specialists (Kaycee Major, Ashlyn Soelberg, Marissa Pasker and Katelyn Bandstra) played very well for us tonight,” W-G head coach Meg Jackson said. “They were flying all over the place and saved any number of points. We passed well, too, and while they did a good job of digging up some of our attacks we were aggressive and kept hitting it and eventually got the points.”
Julie Pitman had 20 kills, Ashley Gales 17 and Alissa Smeltzer 10, with Anna Tague, Alyssa Bice and Emma Drake adding two kills apiece. Pitman played a role in six blocks, with Gales, Tague and Bice having a share in two blocks apiece, with Drake providing 39 assists and and Bice six.
Drake led the team with 25 digs, with Major making 19 digs and Bandstra 11. Bice and Tague had nine digs apiece, with Soelberg recording seven digs and Pasker five.
An 18-of-18 effort with two aces provided by Drake paced the W-G servers. Bandstra was 15-16-1 and Tague 14-16-2 behind the line, with Soelberg 14-15-1 and Pitman 11-14-2. Major finished 11-13-1 and Natalie Weaver 2-4-1, with Pasker 1-of-1 and Bice 1-of-3.
