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by Kent
Harshbarger
Bullettes Come up Aces
in District
By Kent Harshbarger
The Mediapolis Bullettes advanced to regional volleyball play with a three
game sweep of Sigourney at Bud McLearn Court on October 26. The Bullettes
won 25-22, 25-21 and 25-17.
The difference in the game came at the service line. Mepo registered 18
aces while serving 59 of 64 (93%). Conversely, 14 of the Savages serves
did not stay in play. The visitors were just 47 of 61 (77%) with seven
aces.
The main dealer of aces for the Bullettes came from an unexpected source
in sophomore Brittany Griffith. Griffith was seeing her first extended
action with the varsity this year due to some squad depletions over the
last week. She did not disappoint as she notched eight aces while serving
13 0f 16. Griffith also tied for the team lead in digs with five with
teammates Amber Scott and Marissa Dideriksen.
With 32 of their points coming as the result of serves, the Bullettes did
not have to generate a lot of offense, but got enough to get the job done.
Bethany Weber led the Bullettes with nine kills from the middle. Outside
hitter Lydia Ertz added five and Dideriksen four. Emily Kester had 18
assists.
In addition to Griffith's impressive serving, Monica Holsteen and
Dideriksen also added five aces each.
Jesika McLaughlin led in blocks with three. Weber, Kester and Dideriksen
each came up with a pair of blocks.
Mepo coach Dennis Jandrey recognized the value of his team's serving
advantage in the contest. "When you have service errors like that, it's
big. They hadn't really showed serve problems in the tapes we saw, but we
thought their serve reception was suspect," Jandrey said.
He was pleased with Griffith's performance. "She did a good job coming
into this situation. She had really only played in one other match. To
give us eight aces is a super job," Jandrey said.
Mepo needed a good night in all areas to off set the play of the Savages
tall and athletic senior middle hitter Sam Mikota. Mikota finished with a
game high 12 kills and kept the Savages in the match despite their serving
and serve receiving woes.
"She really moved around well. Early we didn't transition very well. Later
on we did a better job of getting a hand on the ball when she hit it. She
jumps really well and we knew she was tough. She had had some really good
swings against Cardinal in the first round," Jandrey said.
In game one, it looked like Mikota might have too many good swings against
the Bullettes. After jumping to a 5-2 lead, the Bullettes saw it disappear
on two kills and a block by Mikota. The Savages went up 10-6, before Ertz
led a Mepo comeback. Two consecutive kills by the senior cut the lead to
10-8. The Bullettes finally got even in game one at 10-10 and 11-11. Two
ace serves by Dideriksen gave Mediapolis a lead they would never
relinquish. Griffith served four straight points, including two aces to
build the advantage to 19-14. A kill by Mikota, an ace by Maureem Mohr and
a kill by Codi Workman closed the lead to just 19-18. Weber and Mikota
then traded kills, but a service error by Ballensky and an ace by Holsteen
put Mepo seemingly back in control at 22-19. The Savages closed again to
22-21 on a serve by Mikota, but she followed with a serve that was wide to
make it 23-21 Mediapolis. Sigourney scored the next point, but Workman
made it two straight service failures when her serve went into the net.
Dideriksen served the final point for the 25-22 win and a 1-0 lead for the
home team.
In game two, the Bullettes fell behind 4-3, but scored seven consecutive
points behind the serving of Holsteen. Ertz's kill made it 10-4 before
Mikota broke the run with a kill. She followed with two more kills and a
block. Two aces by Ballensky knotted the score at 10-10, but another
service error followed to Mepo back up 11-10.
Two aces by Dideriksen and a kill by McLaughlin and a catch call against
the Savages gave Mepo a 15-11 lead. Again the Savages battled back.
Workman served five straight points to put Sigourney back in the lead at
16-15. McLaughlin knotted the score with a kill, but Sigourney took the
lead again with the help of Sara Wohler's ace.
The Bullettes finally got even at 20-20 when the Savages tipped a ball
that appeared to be headed past the end line. Holsteen's ace and a kill by
Dideriksen made it 23-20 in favor of Mepo. Mikota's kill cut the margin to
23-21, but once again the Savages misfired at the service line when
Ballensky served one into the net. McLaughlin followed up Weber's serve
with a powerful kill to end the second game 25-21 for the Bullettes.
The third game was close early, but with the Bullettes leading 10-9,
Griffith served six straight points, including a pair of aces and Weber
hammered two kills as the Bullettes pulled away to a 16-9 lead. The fight
seemed to be gone from the Savages at that point and when Dideriksen spike
hit the floor Mepo had a 25-17 win in game three and a district
championship under their belt.
Jandrey was happy with the win and a chance to advance to regional play.
"At this time of the year, you have to be happy to get to play another
day. At tournament time it is a different atmosphere. You never know what
might happen. That's why I was happy to be playing at home in these first
two matches. You just don't know how you are going to react," Jandrey
said.
The Bullettes advanced to meet Mid-Prairie at Wellman on October 28.
Mid-Prairie defeated Southeast Iowa Super Conference North Division foe
Wapello in their district final at Wellman on the same night the Bullettes
terminated Sigourney's season. Sigourney ended the year with a 12-13 match
record, while Mediapolis advanced with a 28-13 match record and a 71-13
games' mark. Mid-Prairie entered the regional match with an 18-14 record.
2A District Volleyball
@ Mediapolis
Mepo 25-25-25
Sigourney 22-21-17
Match Statistics
Mediapolis
Serving/Aces Holsteen 21-22-5, Kester 9-9-0, Dideriksen 8-9-5, Griffith
13-16-8, Scott 3-3-0, Weber 5-5-0, TEAM 59-64-18.
Kills Holsteen 3, McLaughlin 2, Dideriksen 4, Ertz 5, Weber 9, TEAM 23.
Assists Kester 18, Holsteen 1, Dideriksen 2, Ertz 1, TEAM 22.
Blocks Kester 2, McLaughlin 3, Dideriksen 2, Weber 2, TEAM 9.
Digs - Holsteen 4, Kester 2, Dideriksen 5, Griffith 5, Scott 5, Ertz 3,
Weber 1, TEAM 25.
Sigourney
Aces Ballensky 4, Mohr 1, Mateer 1, Wohler 1, TEAM 7.
Kills Mikota 12, Mohr 3, Workman 3, Mateer 2, TEAM 20.
Assists Ballensky 17, TEAM 17.
Blocks Mikota 4, Mateer 1, TEAM 5.
Digs Flynn 5, Mendenhall 5, Mohr 5, Mikota 4, Ballensky 4, TEAM 23.
Bullettes' Record: Matches (All 28-13, Division 5-2), Games (All 71-13,
Division 18-7). |