Aplington–Parkersburg too much for Bullettes
Top–ranked team sweeps Mediapolis out of Class 2A tournament. By JOE SPENCER jspencer@thehawkeye.com
CEDAR RAPIDS — The Mediapolis High School volleyball team simply had the misfortune of being placed in the path of a team on a mission Thursday night. Top–ranked Aplington–Parkersburg exploited its superior size and skill in a convincing 25–11, 25–17, 25–15 victory over the Bullettes in a Class 2A state quarterfinal match at U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids. University of Iowa recruits Becky Walters and Megan Schipper combined for 21 kills, 11 aces and 11 blocks to lift Aplington–Parkersburg two victories away from the state title that it's been denied the past two years by Hull Western Christian. The Falcons, who have lost just one game in their string of 21 consecutive victories and only seven games all season, will meet fifth–ranked Hinton at 6 p.m. tonight in a semifinal match. The Falcons' imposing core of lengthy hitters — 6–foot–3 Walters, 6–foot Kasey Huisman, 5–foot–11 Schipper, 5–foot–11 Neisha Johnson and 5–foot–10 Rachel VanderHolt — dominated from the first serve. Aplington–Parkersburg's size and reach took away any attack from Mediapolis' smaller hitters. "I had five–foot–eight and five–foot–six kids going against six–footers, there's nothing you can do about that," Bullettes coach Dennis Jandrey said after his team gave up a 35–10 deficit in kills and a 23–3 margin in blocks. "We were allowed meal money. I told our kids to take everything they had and bet it on these guys to win it all. I don't see anybody beating them. "Their blockers were so long that they had a foot–and–a–half penetration on our side of the net, and I have kids trying to hit over that. There was no way. These guys are for real." Schipper, who had a team–high 15 kills, was particularly nasty at the service line. Brandishing a back–spin, jump–serve, the lanky all–stater collected seven of the Falcons' 17 aces. "We are very fortunate to have the senior class we have," Schipper said. "This is our best chance. If we are ever going to beat to Western Christian, it's going to be this year. We've focused on them all year. "This is a special group," said Aplington–Parkersburg coach Darrell Koenen, who recorded his 579th career coaching victory over the last 25 years Thursday. "We have four girls who are going to play college ball next year, maybe more. Becky and Megan are going to Iowa, Kasey is talking with (NCAA) Division III schools and Neisha is looking at smaller schools and (junior college) programs. A group like this doesn't come around very often." The Falcons started the opening game with a four–point run and tacked on five more points behind two aces from Walters before exploding for eight straight with Johnson serving to push their lead to 18–6. Schipper then hammered two more of the Falcons' eight aces in the game to spark a 7–5 closing push. The Falcons crushed 11 kills in the game and hit an incredible .500 attack percentage. "We were a little in awe of them early," Jandrey said. "I tried to keep our kids away from watching them in the pregame warmups. My gosh, they just put on a show." The Bullettes trailed just 18–15 in the second game thanks to kills by Monica Holsteen and Bethany Weber and aces from Kaci McLaughlin and Mindi Fye. But Schipper went on another hitting binge, striking five kills during a 7–2 finishing burst. Walters served up three of her four aces in the third game to push Aplington–Parkersburg's lead from four points to 22–14. Schipper then hit her final two kills to clinch the match. Holsteen paced Mediapolis with three kills, and Kami Keller had two. Molly Petersen finished with eight assists. "I told the girls in the locker room this doesn't take away from what we accomplished," Jandrey said of the Bullettes' fourth trip to state and a school–record for victories in a season (35–10). "We were not that great a volleyball team before that week off we had before starting the (regional) tournament. They came together and strung together four great matches to get to state, and they should remember that." MEDIAPOLIS Kills — Monica Holsteen 3, Kami Keller 2, Bethany Weber 1, Katie Hollingsworth 1, Brittany Griffith 1, Kaci McLaughlin 1. Blocks — Weber 3. Assists — Molly Petersen 8. Digs — Marissa Dideriksen 4, Amanda Darbyshire 3. Aces — Mindi Fye 1, Griffith 1, Petersen 1, Weber 1, McLaughlin 1. APLINGTON–PARKERSBURG Kills — Megan Schipper 15, Neisha Johnson 7, Becky Walters 6, Rachel VanderHolt 4, Kasey Huisman 3. Blocks — Walters 8, VanderHolt 4, Johnson 8, Schipper 3. Assists — Sam Muller 31. Digs — Mandi Koenen 5. Aces — Schipper 7, Walters 4, Muller 2, Huisman 2, Johnson 2.
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