Glenwood’s season ends in regional finals
SERGEANT BLUFF - Seeking its first state tournament berth in school history, the Glenwood volleyball team got a good look at what a state level team looks like.
Unfortunately for the Rams that team was Sergeant Bluff-Luton.
The state ranked No. 4 Warriors used their aggressive attack and dominating defensive presence at the net to end the Rams’ season in a 25-14, 25-9, 25-18 sweep in the Class 4A, Regional 2 finals in Sergeant Bluff Monday.
“It helps to have height and they have a lot of big, powerful hitters,” said Glenwood coach Chelsey Harvey after the match. “I think we might have psyched ourselves out and then with our injuries, they got in our heads.
“But do I think we could have beaten them? I think we could. If we played tonight like we’ve been playing lately, we’d have given them a run for their money.”
From the opening set, the Rams had trouble executing their offense and rarely got good swings against the Warriors (40-3). And when Glenwood did, the Warriors’ blockers – who go 6-foot and 6-foot-2 – had an answer. Once SB-L got up 13-7, Glenwood would never get closer in the opening set loss.
“They definitely had us out of synch,” Harvey said.
After rattling off an 8-2 run to open the second set, the Warriors cruised to a 25-9 win in game two. But the Rams wouldn’t go away quietly. In game three Glenwood twice trimmed six points leads to three but could get no closer.
“We fought hard in that (last) set,” Harvey said. “I think if we start off (the match) that way, we definitely take a set.”
Sergeant Bluff-Luton will open play a next Tuesday in the Iowa State Volleyball Tournament at the U.S. Cellular Arena in Cedar Rapids.
Glenwood closes its season with a record of 17-15.
Glenwood 25-18-22-25-15
A-D-M 23-25-25-14-11
Having just watched A-D-M rally from six points down to take a 2-1 lead and appearing to have all the momentum with them, the Glenwood volleyball team could have easily folded.
Not this Glenwood volleyball team.
The Rams got a pep talk from their coach, gathered themselves for a win or go home scenario with a dominating set four win and then a big final set rally of their own to defeat the Tigers 25-23, 18-25, 22-25, 25-14, 15-11 and advance to the Class 4A, Region 2 finals.
Glenwood coach Chelsey Harvey has stressed to her team all year about never giving up and that mantra paid off big time in regionals.
“You always keep fighting, you never know what can happen,” she said. “I thought especially in that fifth set, we get down 11-7, and I told them in a timeout, ‘Go out there and give it 120 percent. This is it. You gotta go.’ And they went out, they had nothing to lose and everything to gain, and the pressure was off them and they played their game.”
In a tight, back-and-fourth opening set, the Rams (17-14) trailed 20-18 late before rattling off four straight points to take a 22-20 lead they’d never surrender in a 25-23 win.
But A-D-M came right back to take set two and then in game three, after Glenwood went up 9-4 early and 22-18 late, the Tigers rallied to score the final seven points of the match in an apparent momentum-shifting 25-22 win.
The Tigers’ winning the second and third sets after the Rams won set one had all the appearance of three matches Glenwood lost this year after winning set one. Harvey never let her team panic
“We practice things like that; we practice dealing with frustrations a lot,” she said. “We key on being able to make the plays we need to pull out matches when we’re frustrated. Being able to deal with that is a lot of what we do in practice.”
The Rams trailed 9-4 to open set four but then rattled off a red hot 19-1 run to win going away. The Tigers once again got out to a lead in game five, taking an 10-6 spread into a Harvey timeout. Glenwood responded with a 9-1 run, closed out by a Elle Scarborough game-winning kill to complete the come back.
Harvey said Scarborough, who led Glenwood with a season-high 20 kills, Brielle Smith and Emily Todd all played “fantastic” on the front row in the match.
“Elle played a great game,” Harvey said. “She was hitting the ball fantastic. She came out guns blazing and was hitting the ball really well. So when she got up in that front row, she really made a difference. But it’s not just Elle. The girls trusted each other more and realized they can trust their back row without putting so much pressure on themselves to score that next point. Good things happen when you can relax and enjoy it and have fun.”
The Rams hit .287 for the night with a season-high 51 kills. Todd picked up 11 kills and Smith eight.
As good as the Rams’ played offensively, Harvey was almost more impressed by her team’s defense. Glenwood had 82 digs on the night – Sierra Stouder recorded a game-high 28 – in a scrappy defensive effort that frustrated the Tiger and never allowed them to get comfortable offensively.
“I think the fourth set, when we went on that big run, that really seemed to take away their confidence,” Harvey said. “We didn’t give up and stayed aggressive. But I think we had a lot of fun too.”
Sami Schepers led A-D-M with 27 kills.