St. Edmond aces home tourney test
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The St. Edmond volleyball team passed its first postseason test here Monday night, eliminating North Iowa in a Class 1A, Region 2 opener.
Scores were 24-26, 25-16, 25-18 and 25-16.
The Gaels (14-18 overall) advance to face Mason City Newman (14-10) on Wednesday in quarterfinal round action in Mason City. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
Eden Horn tallied 24 kills, Abby Huss had 20 assists, and both Chloe Palmer and Baylor Ulrich had seven kills for St. Edmond, which overcame a slow start against the upset-minded Bison (8-16).
"Credit North Iowa, because they came to play," SEHS head coach Lindsay Heffernan said. "They really came after us with their serve game. They were a worthy challenger and definitely forced us to make some adjustments as the match went on.
"But I thought our seniors – Chloe Palmer, Abby Huss and Morgan Lewis – did a great job leading us. And it was great to send them out with a win in their final volleyball match at home."
North Iowa erased a deficit in the first game, scoring six straight points to take the lead at 19-18. The two exchanged points before the Bison scored three straight go up by a set early.
For North Iowa, senior Brooklyn Price had nine kills, classmate Bella Langfald eight, and a third senior – Emma Eichenberger – had five with two aces and a block. Langfald had two blocks and the team finished with eight aces.
"I thought we lacked ball control early," Heffernan said. "We also didn't do a very good job adjusting to their block. Once we started doing those two things, our offense really opened up.
"I thought Baylor had a great night, as did Chloe. We know what to expect out of Eden each match, but we need those other girls to step up and they did."
St. Edmond scored eight of the final nine points in the second set, and rattled off 16 of the last 18 – including the last 10 – to take the third. In the fourth set, the Gaels never trailed, taking control with a 10-5 run.
Ellasyn Whitmore had four kills and three blocks, Rihanna Myers finished with 11 assists, four aces and three kills, and Ella Vandi had four assists.
Breckyn Ulrich chipped in three assists and two kills.
"I'm just really proud of the girls for battling through some adversity and coming out on top," Heffernan said. "They never hung their heads and continued to go out there and compete for each and every point."
Newman advanced with a sweep of West Hancock. The winner of that match plays either Saint Ansgar or West Bend-Mallard on Monday, Oct. 26, in a regional semifinal.