By BRANDON HURLEY
Sports Editor
CARROLL – A sterling 98.5 serve percentage and 73 successful serves allowed fourth-ranked Kuemper to shake off some early rust for a three set victory over Greene County Tuesday, Oct. 25 in a 3A region two semifinal in Carroll.
The Rams, who took an early 6-5 lead, began to struggle with several unforced errors as Kuemper found their groove and never let up following the sluggish start.
The 27-1 Knights bounced back-and-forth with the Rams in the opening stages of the first set as the two squads exchanged six ties before Kuemper took control.
Greene County used crisp passing and well placed balls to take leads on three separate instances while Kuemper found its footing. The Knights finally ripped off a 5-0 run to take control at 10-6 and cruised to the eventual 25-18 set win.
“We were ready to go, no question about it,” Greene County head coach Donna Carhill said about the fast start. “They did everything they could’ve. You see that a lot of times when teams try to figure out what they are doing and who should hit where. That was nice to see.”
The Knights used a 16-5 run to capture the opening set then cruised to a 25-3 second set victory before closing out the match 25-15 in the third and final game.
Kuemper head coach Keith Stickrod attributed the slow start to a combination of nerves and excitement among his girls.
“It was regionals, their last game at home and nerves, a little bit of that,” the coach said. “After that though, we played pretty good volleyball.”
Kuemper sprinted out to a 5-1 lead early in the second, which was the closest Greene County would come the remainder of the set.
The Knights’ strong service game shone through as well placed balls sent the Greene County defenders scrambling all over the court. The Knights strung together a mighty 17-1 run to end the set.
Kuemper refused to back off in the final set, as they ran off a 9-1 start to gain control. Their lead ballooned to 19-9 before Greene County used back-to-back blocks to cut the deficit to 21-12. The Rams fought off a pair of match points before Kuemper eventually closed out the match.
Kuemper’s Taylor Promes was a perfect 21-of-21 from the service line while she added seven aces and six digs.
Several miscues aided the Kuemper attack as well Tuesday as the Rams gave the Knights a variety of easy points.
“Kuemper just made less errors. We made some significant errors once we hit about eight points. We were playing pretty well and error free for awhile,” Carhill said. “We tried putting our best rotations out there but those errors really hurt us. The passing went down hill pretty fast.”
Megan Durbin led the Rams with five kills while Nadia Fisher contributed four. Greene County was unsuccesful on 12 of their kill attmepts and committed 40 defensive errors. As a team, the Rams sent home just 15 total kills. Durbin also led the team in digs with seven while fisher and Kenna Marquardt each contributed five. Greene County was 37-of-51 from the service line.
The Rams finished the year with an 11-25 record and a first round regional win over Atlantic but stumbled to a 2-6 record in the Heart of Iowa Conference. Miscues plagued the squad on nearly a nightly basis.
“(This year) wasn’t what we anticipated,” Carhill said. “We struggled with errors the whole year. We have athletes on the team that play the game well, but it was just error multiplied by error. Not quite the season we had intended.”
The Rams graduate five seniors all who played significant minutes, including Fisher, Marquardt, Hannah Stein and Emily Heupel. Quick development will be key for a turnaround in 2017.
“We will build around the kids who have experience,” Carhill said. “We have some youngsters that have some promise. We will look at what we have and try to do the best we can.”