Glenwood wins Indianola tournament

The Glenwood volleyball team capped a perfect 7-0 week with four victorious sweeps at the Indianola Invitational Volleyball Tournament Saturday.

The Class 4A, No. 3 ranked Rams (26-1 overall, 7-1 in the Hawkeye 10 Conference) did not lose a set downing Fort Dodge 21-11, 21-9 and Williamsburg 21-11, 21-11 in pool play then sweeping Indianola 25-16, 25-23 and Ballard 25-14, 25-18 in the finals round robin.

“We left at 5:15 in the morning so I was a little nervous how we’d do early in the morning and a two and a half hour bus drive but we came out and played really well,” said Glenwood coach Chelsey Hirt. “

Elle Scarborough led the Rams with 32 kills on the day. Brynlee Arnold added 23 kills on her day.

Grace Boles keyed the offense with 62 set assists in the four games and libero Kelly Embray had 30 digs.

Hirt said tournaments like Saturday, against teams her team rarely sees, will only help come the postseason.

“We like to see how we compare to teams we don’t see and teams we don’t hear about all the time,” she said. “Ballard and Indianola are both pretty good teams. Its good as en eye opener to see where we stand.”

Glenwood 25-25-25
Creston 10-10-18

Glenwood smacked down 32 kills in a 25-10, 25-10, 25-18 sweep of Creston in Hawkeye 10 Conference volleyball Thursday.
Brynlee Arnold led the Ram attack with nine kills. Coryl Matheny added eight kills and Elle Scarborough six.

“We played really, really well,” said Glenwood coach Chelsey Hirt. “We were efficient. We came out guns blazing and our energy was high. It was fun.”

Kelly Embray led the defense with 17 digs.

Kelsey Fields paced Creston with 13 kills.

Rams sweep
in triangular

Glenwood improved its record to 26-1 on the season with sweeps of Harlan and Council Bluffs St. Albert in a home triangular last Tuesday.

The Class 4A, No. 3 ranked Rams (26-1 overall, 7-1 in the Hawkeye 10 Conference) never let Harlan (15-12) get into any sort of rhythm in a 25-11, 25-14, 25-18 victory and then closed out the night with a 25-14, 25-18, 25-20 sweep of the Saintes (8-13).

The Rams had eight blocks and dug up 41 balls in the efficient sweep of the Cyclones who finished with 17 kills while hitting a woeful minus-.044 on 90 attempts.

“We know that Harlan is always going to bring heat so our defense was definitely our biggest focus for that game,” said Glenwood coach Chelsey Hirt. “That and keeping our heads on straight. Just in the past couple game we’ve had I’ve really been really proud of our defense. Kelly Embray and Delaney Holeton back there put their bodies on the floor to get a ball up.”

Elle Scarborough paced Glenwood with 10 kills against Harlan. Coryl Matheny added eight and Abby Hughes and Brynlee Arnold five each.

Delaney Holeton and Scarborough had 10 digs each.

Against St. Albert, the Rams pounded home 49 kills while hitting a blistering .314 for the match.

“We saw St. Albert earlier this season and they took a game from us so we knew we needed to be on top of it,” Hirt said. “I’m really proud of how your executed.”

Matheny led the way with 17 kills. Scarborough added 14 and Arnold 11.

Grace Boles dished up a combined 68 set assists in the two matches.

Glenwood 25-25-25
Kuemper 20-17-14

A 10 day break in action appeared to have no ill effect on the Glenwood volleyball team.

The Rams didn’t skip a beat in a 25-20, 25-17, 25-14 sweep of Kuemper Catholic in Hawkeye 10 Conference volleyball last Monday.
“We were really ready for this one,” Glenwood coach Chelsey Hirt said. “We were really focused on this one. We had a good week of practice focusing on fundamentals and we still came out with some fire.”

Elle Scarborough led the way with 16 kills as Glenwood hit .307 as a team. The Knights (19-8) had 30 kills but the Ram defense made them work for every one, holding them to a .159 hitting efficiency.

“That efficiency is nice to have,” Hirt said. “Some teams have just one or two players up front that are efficient and I’m just really proud of how this team pushes each other to be efficient. This is one of the best year’s we’ve had with hitting efficiency.”

Brynlee Arnold added eight kills and Coryl Matheny five for Glenwood.

Grace Boles dished up 28 set assists.