---

Putting on a tournament is a lot of work.
Winning your own tournament is what they term a success.
So no doubt Iowa-Grant's volleyball team knows the feeling of success very well after last Saturday.
"To win our own tourney is always sweet!! And, the way we held our own all day was great to see," said Panther coach Marla Simon.
"Our kids were pretty resilient and the championship is very much a team effort. I thought our match against Highland could have gone their way pretty easily but strong serving by Jess Pluemer and Emma Liddicoat helped in the later stretches of that match," Simon said. "I think if we drop this match our day is quite different."
Round scores were:
Round 1
Iowa-Grant defeated New Glarus 25-23, 25-18
Dodgeville defeated Highland 25-16, 26-24
Round 2
Iowa-Grant defeated Highland 24-26, 25-20, 15-13
Dodgeville defeated New Glarus 25-9, 25-4
Round 3
Iowa-Grant defeated Dodgeville 25-20, 25-19
New Glarus defeated Highland 25-19, 24-26, 15-13
The round three match up made the Panthers belive.
"Taking Dodgeville in two sets was a good match for us and showed we rebounded well from just playing three sets with Highland," Simon said. "Katie Olson led us with 10 kills and Emma with eight. We did a good job getting on top in this match and staying on top. "
The championship series scores were:
1st place Match Iowa- Grant defeated Mineral Point 25-19, 20-25, 15-10
3rd place Match Dodgeville defeated Belleville 20-25, 25-19, 15-11
5th Place Match Portage defeated Seneca 25-23, 25-18
7th Place Match Highland defeated New Glarus 16-25, 25-23, 15-12
Championship Semi Finals
Mineral Point defeated Dodgeville 25-16, 25-15
Iowa-Grant defeated Belleville 17-25, 26-24, 15-13
Consolation Semi Finals
Portage defeated Highland 23-25, 25-23, 15-6
Seneca defeated New Glarus 25-21, 25-14
"In the crossover first match, Belleville was extremely tough to find a hole with our hitting, as they kept the ball up very well. We dropped the first set in this match, same as with Highland," Simon said. "But we are not getting too rattled anymore by this even though it is still not fun to be in a hole."
"We won a close second set, 26-24 and we were struggling in serve receive so I went with freshman, Olivia Liddicoat to help with that, and she did a very nice job in her varsity debut," Simon added. "She had three kills while setting and making some nice defensive plays."
"Maranda McCarthy our libero also had a nice match against Belleville ending up with eight digs and also served well. In the finals we meet Mineral Point, our rivals, and with a great team effort by those on the court and on the bench," the coach said.
"Emma and Taylor really connected for us in this match as Emma had 14 kills and Taylor 25 assists. Jess Pluemer (4) and Olivia Liddicoat (3) did well with serving and aces," Simon said.
"Overall I was very pleased with the team and their efforts on Saturday. This is a tough stretch for us and I hope they are becoming more and more confident in each other and in this team," she said.
PANTHERS STAT LEADERS
Kills - Emma Liddicoat (48), Katie Olson (33), Jess Pluemer (19), Taylor Liddicoat (17)
Blocks - Jessica Pluemer (6) and Shae McIntyre (6)
Aces - Jessica Pluemer (15) and Emma Liddicoat (8)
Digs - Emma Liddicoat (29), Maranda McCarthey (22), Katie Olson (15)
Assists - Taylor Liddicoat (139)
Mineral Point sailed through their pool and got to the finals before losing to the Panthers in three.
The Pointers started with a win over Portage 25-14, 15-17, moved on to handle a tough Seneca team 25-17, 21-25, 15-10.
The Pointers closed out pool play with a sweep of Belleville, 25-18, 27-25.
In crossover the Pointers met Dodgeville and handled them 25-16 25-15 to reach the finals where they met the host Panthers.
In a hard fought championship game the Pointers lost 19-25, 25-20 and 10-15.