Gaels win tight 5 set match
St. Edmond advances to semifinals
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MASON CITY – The St. Edmond volleyball team had to find its rhythm again here Wednesday night.
After taking a 2-0 lead over Mason City Newman in a Class 1A, Region 2 quarterfinal, the Gaels were pushed to a fifth and deciding set.
But behind seven kills from Eden Horn and three consecutive aces by Baylor Ulrich, St. Edmond completed a rally in the final set, advancing over the Knights.
Scores were 25-23, 25-17, 21-25 and 15-11.
The Gaels (15-18 overall) will now face 14th-ranked Saint Ansgar (19-16), who eliminated West Bend-Mallard in four.
"That final set was so exciting," SEHS head coach Lindsay Heffernan said. "Eden stepped up with some big kills, Ella Vandi had so many incredible digs that kept the ball alive and Baylor was incredible serving."
Horn finished with 29 kills, senior Chloe Palmer had eight kills and Rihanna Myers had 24 assists and senior Abby Huss had 16 assists.
Down 3-0 to Mason City Newman (14-11) in the fifth, St. Edmond answered with four straight. The two exchanged two-point rallies over the next several serves before the Knights went up 10-8.
From there, it was all Gaels. Horn cut the deficit to one with a kill, and Ulrich fired off three straight service aces. After Mason City Newman was able to finally handle Ulrich, it was Horn who put the match away with a big kill.
"Our offense was on fire the first two sets," Heffernan said. "Eden really stepped up and gave us some key moment kills. They started to adjust to our defense and it took a while for us to pick up some of the tips and roll shots."
The winner between St. Edmond and Saint Ansgar will face either second-ranked Boyden-Hull (22-11) or South O'Brien (15-7) next Wednesday for a spot in the state tournament.
In other regional action, Manson Northwest Webster lost to eighth-ranked (2A) Aplington-Parkersburg in three, East Sac County was ousted by South Hamilton in three, Newell-Fonda lost to No. 8 (1A) Le Mars Gehlen in three, Emmetsburg was bested by 15th-ranked (2A) Garner-Hayfield/Ventura in four and Clarion-Goldfield/Dows was swept by (2A) No. 10 Hudson.