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Iowa-Grant's volleyball team not only won the week last week with a pair of SWAL wins, they also brought the championship of their own Invitational back to Pantherville for the first time since 2016.
The Panthers swept their way through pool play with wins over Albany, Portage and Marshall. They beat Belleville who they were matched with in the championship semi-finals then ended their run with a win over Mineral Point in the finals.
Overall leaders:
Kills - Olivia Liddicoat (39 - 11 v. Albany, 8 v. Portage); Annie Spurley (23 - 8 v. Portage), Mya McCarthy (17 - 6 v. MP)
Blocks - Liddicoat (12)
Aces - Kenzie Oakes (14) & Hazel Klosterman (9)
Assists - Klosterman (93)
Digs - Stevens (36), Liddicoat (30), Spurley (29)
"I was so pleased with how the girls played this weekend and really came together to win the Invite," said coach Marla Simon. "We had so many kids have great days in many areas. Our defense was really good as you see how many digs three kids had,"
Annie Spurley and Maci Stevens, both had a very solid day and Liv Liddicoat stabilized some blocking for us," Simon added. "We just did a great job giving ourselves chances on offense. Serving was phenomenal with 39 team aces and we served 92% on the day. Kenzie Oakes led us with 14 of those aces and had only one miss out of 66 attempts (98%)! She was pretty calm and focused on the service line."
"And, then to praise our offense,...we met up against some big blocks and we are not a tall team. But, with Hazel leading the offense, we were able to mix it up and move the ball around to many hitters. I am happy for our kids and hope we can continue staying confident and focused," Simon said.
SWAL MATCHES
The Panthers swept Southwestern in an away match last Tuesday, taking the first three sets.
Scores were 25-17, 25- 23, 25-23.
Stat leaders for the Panthers were:
Kills - Annie Spurley (8), Olivia Liddicoat (7), Sydney Lundell (6)
Blocks - Olivia Liddicoat (4)
Aces - Hazel Klosterman (6) & Maci Stevens (4)
Assists - Hazel Klosterman (26)
Digs - Stevens (10) & Liddicoat (8)
"Southwestern is a tough place for us to play and get a win, so this was pretty gratifying for all of us," coach Simon said. "We were able to play pretty good defense against their hitting strength and put really good pressure one with our serves finishing with 14 aces and only six errors. We also had a good balance of kills from three players - Annie, Olivia and Syd and that happens due to Hazel running a more balanced offense."
Thursday the Panthers coasted past Boscobel, winning the week with a pair of conference wins.
Scores were 25-18, 25-12, 25-22.
Kills - Mya McMarthy (7), Liddicoat (5), Spurley (5)
Blocks - Liddicoat (2)
Aces - Spurley (7)
Assists - Klosterman (15)
Digs - Stevens (12), Spurley (6)
"This was a good match to give more kids a chance to play and sometimes our play wasn't always pretty," said Simon, "But we still found a way to win. Once again we served well with lots of pressure - finishing with 16 aces as a team. It was another good road win."
Iowa-Grant Invitational Results
POOL PLAY
Pool A
Albany
Portage
Iowa-Grant
Marshall
Round 1
Iowa-Grant beat Albany 25-8, 25-16
Marshall beat Portage 25-21, 16-25, 17-15
Round 2
Iowa-Grant beat Portage 14-25, 25-13, 15-6
Marshall beat Albany 25-9, 25-21
Round 3
Portage beat Albany 25-16, 25-15
Iowa-Grant beat Marshall 25-16, 25-11
Pool B
Seneca
Belleville
Dodgeville
Mineral Point
Round 1
Dodgeville beat Seneca 25-19, 25-17
Belleville beat Mineral Point 25-22, 25-23
Round 2
Dodgeville beat Belleville 25-14, 15-25, 15-12
Mineral Point beat Seneca 18-25, 25-22, 15-10
Round 3
Belleville beat Seneca 26-24, 25-12
Mineral Point beat Dodgeville 25-20, 25-19
Consolation Semi-Finals
Portage beat Seneca 25-20, 25-23
Dodgeville beat Albany 25-21, 25-18
Championship Semi-Finals
Iowa-Grant beat Belleville 25-19, 26-27, 15-12
Mineral Point beat Marshall 25-23, 24-26, 15-13
7th Place Match
Seneca beat Albany 25-10, 25-14
5th Place Match
Dodgeville beat Portage 23-25, 2512, 16-14
3rd Place Match
Marshall beat Belleville 25-14, 27-26
1st Place Match
Iowa-Grant beat Mineral Point 25-16, 20-25, 15-10