Indians sweep Newton on Senior Night

By JIM GRIES

OSKALOOSA — Oskaloosa wanted to end the home season on a winning note and that’s exactly what the Indians did Tuesday night.

The Indians started a little slow against Newton in the first game then coasted to a three-game sweep of their Little Hawkeye Conference foe.

Oskaloosa, after trailing 3-0 early in the opening game, went on to the 25-21, 25-21, 25-13 victory.

“The girls are really starting to come together and it’s exciting to see,” Oskaloosa coach Sarah DeRonde said. “They’re serving tough and that’s what we need. They’re pushing hard during the game, that’s what we need. We’ve got two solid weeks of playing this next week and I think we’ll see us get better and better every single time.”

Sarah Montgomery and Carrington Mitchell had kills as the Cardinals cored the first three points of the match. They maintained that cushion for much of the early going until Oskaloosa sophomore Jacque Terrell got to serve the second time around.

With Oskaloosa trailing 12-10, Terrell had two aces to help get the Indians ahead 13-12. The Cardinals tied the game at 13, but Oskaloosa went ahead for good after senior Katie Rielly finished off a long rally by putting down a kill to give Oskaloosa a lead it would not give up.

Rielly, who along with fellow seniors Mandy Cummings, Kate Sterner, Lottie Staggs and Allison Rohloff were honored prior to the match on Senior Night, served four straight points to put the game out of reach. The run included an ace and a combo block by Staggs and junior Brittni Martin for an 18-13 advantage.

Two kills by Cummings and a pair of hitting errors by Newton put Oskaloosa at game point at 24-17. A kill by Amanda Jones got the Cardinals to within 24-21, but Rielly closed out the game with a kill that trickled over the net and the 25-21 win.

The duo of Terrell and Rielly provided a spark in the second game as they tallied five points off their serves early in the second game for a 6-3 lead and the Indians never looked back.

The Indians extended the margin to 13-1 when they went on a 7-2 run to lead by 11 at 20-9.

Rielly recorded a kill and Martin added another kill for a 15-8 lead. Newton called a time out after a hitting miscue, Rielly tipped the ball for another point for a 17-8 advantage.

Sterner scored a point on a ball that just tipped the net to put Oskaloosa ahead 20-9 and it looked like Oskaloosa would coast to the easy win in game two.

But the Cardinals came back strong behind the serving of Montgomery and made the Indians sweat just a bit.

Montgomery began the run with an ace that got inside the baseline then added a service winner to cut the deficit to 21-13. Anna Christopher had two kills and two more Montgomery aces made it a 21-18 game. Another point from Christopher got Newton to within 21-19, then sophomore Samantha Allgood served two points with the second being a soft shot by Terrell to put Oskaloosa to 24-19.

Newton got to within 24-21, but Mallory Sturtz served the ball long and Oskaloosa won the second game by the identical 25-21 score.

The Indians took no prisoners in the third and eventual final game of the match.

They jumped out to a 7-2 lead as Terrell served an ace while Cummings, Rielly and Sterner all had kills.

Martin had a kill off a Newton block for an 8-4 lead to set up a run which the Cardinals never recovered.

With Rielly handling the serve, Martin and Staggs combined for a block that led to a point and Rielly served an ace that just nicked the net and fell to the floor in front of a diving Newton player. A service winner by Rielly boosted the lead to 13-4 and another ace gave Oskaloosa a 10-point cushion at 14-4. Newton called a time out and that stopped the bleeding for a moment as Oskaloosa extended the lead to 19-7 behind the serving of Sterner.

Martin knocked down a kill and she joined Staggs for a block that fell down for another kill for a 17-7 lead. Sterner pushed the ball to the corner for another point and Cummings had a kill for the 12-point lead.

After a side out by the Cardinals, Martin had a kill before Rielly took over for the final two points of the match. Rielly had two kills, including one at match point to send the Oskaloosa crowd home happy.

DeRonde was all smiles when taking about the combination at the net of Staggs and Martin.

“Brittni blocked well. She’s kind of our newby onto the team and she started jumping really high and it’s pretty neat,” DeRonde said. “We’re excited that she is jumping up there for us and putting those hands up there to block it. She had some nice touches on the ball and she’s really going to add a lot to the team. It’s fun to see them come together right now.”

Oskaloosa has a tough match set for Thursday when it travels to No. 2 Ankeny.

“We have a tough match coming up against Ankeny, but it’s good for us. We’re excited to play them and I think we’ll play well,” DeRonde said.

No statistics were available from the match.

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