Titans snap Glenwood’s 20-match winning streak

Council Bluffs Lewis Central avenged an earlier sweep at the hands of Glenwood and snapped the Rams’ 20 match winning streak in the championship match at the Council Bluffs Lewis Central Invitational Volleyball Tournament Saturday.

The Class 4A, No. 3 ranked Rams (30-2) Glenwood never seemed to get on track against a Lewis Central (17-6) team they’d swept in Hawkeye 10 Conference play four days earlier. The Titans swept the Rams 21-16, 21-13.

Glenwood coach Chelsey Hirt said her team has a habit of showing up with different intensity on tournament days than they do regular matches but she credited the Titans’ consistency and aggressiveness.

“They showed up to play and we showed up flat,” Hirt said. “We couldn’t get anything in, we tried to do some things offensively but they were able to pick it up or put it down on their end. They played really good against us and I don’t think we played as well as we could.”

The Rams had swept into the finals with pool plays wins over Treynor 21-11, 21-6, Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln 21-12, 21-7 and Sidney 21-17, 21-11.

“We actually started strong Saturday, which is something we’ve been working on,” Hirt said. “I was really pleased with that. We played with consistency on offense and defense against Treynor and that sort of set the tone for the day for us.”

A bright spot for the Rams was the record-setting day by Grace Boles. With 68 set assists at the LC tournament, the senior setter surpassed previous single season assist record holder Myranda Starner with 684 assists.

Elle Scarborough led Glenwood with 29 kills. Coryl Matheny added 17 kills.

Kelly Embray led the defense with 32 digs.

The Rams’ 30 wins (30-2) matches the school record set last season but in 11 less games.

Glenwood 25-25-25
C.B. L.C. 14-20-21

How big was Glenwood’s win over Council Bluffs Lewis Central last Tuesday?

The Rams’ 25-14, 25-20, 25-21 sweep of their longtime rivals wasn’t even the biggest story.

The win - and a loss by Red Oak to Council Bluffs St. Albert - secured Glenwood at least a share of its first ever Hawkeye 10 Conference title in school history. The Tigers had beaten Glenwood way back on Sept. 8. Since that loss, the Rams (27-1) have won 17 straight matches.

“We celebrated but it was after the fact because we knew we lost to Red Oak and we weren’t sure where we stood,” said Glenwood coach Chelsey Hirt, who found out after the match the Hawkeye 10 Conference does not have a head-to-head tie breaker, meaning the Rams would split the conference crown with Red Oak as they both have identical 9-1 records.

“It was fun for us. We were able to check that off our list. We’re so focused on this post-season the conference win hasn’t settled in our brains yet.”

The Titans had all of the Rams focus Tuesday night.

Glenwood jumped out to early leads, kept the pace up and never kept Lewis Central on the defensive all match. The Rams had 45 kills and hit .266 as a team. Elle Scarborough led the way with 18 kills and Brynlee Arnold had 12.

“We definitely had to be aggressive against Lewis Central,” Hirt said. “They have a decent defensive scheme. Brynlee and Ellie really both had standout games. That’s the most I’ve seen them get together.

“That helped us offensively. They focused on blocking Elle and our other girls stepped up and shined. We need to see that because we’re going to see that all post-season.”

Grace Boles notched 37 sets assists to pace the Rams offense. Kelly Embray dug up 23 balls.

Madisyn Havermann led Lewis Central with 10 kills.