After just 40 minutes, it was evident the Rebels had maintained the focus their head coach demanded of them a day earlier.

Class 1A No. 11 Gladbrook-Reinbeck ran its offense the way it wanted to regardless of its opponent, but Meskwaki served as the first-round training session the Rebels needed to begin Region 5 play. G-R (25-8) dominated from the outset and sped off with a 25-6, 25-1, 25-8 victory over the Warriors on Tuesday night to advance to the quarterfinal round.

“We talked about it [Monday] in practice because they were kind of going through the motions and I said ‘you’ve got to play tough, you’ve got to play faster than what you’re playing right now because you’re not playing to the competition, you’ve got to play the way we play,'” Rebels head coach Paula Kelley said after Tuesday’s postseason opener. “Practice intensity picked up after that and they continued it throughout tonight, which I was super-happy with — not necessarily the score, but just that we didn’t let up. What we did on our side of the court was everything that we wanted to accomplish tonight.”

So instead of racing the team in the next lane, G-R raced against the clock. Comparing themselves to the standard established by last year’s state tournament qualifier, the Rebels rattled off three decisive set victories. None were more lopsided than the second set, a 25-1 win for the hosts.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - Gladbrook-Reinbeck’s Brianna Strohbehn (13) hits between Meskwaki defenders Geanna Bear, left, and Payton Tahahwah during the third set of Tuesday’s Class 1A Region 5 match in Reinbeck.

G-R senior Reagan Skovgard served up the first 14 points of the set before Meskwaki (2-21) broke through on the scoreboard. Skovgard had five aces before her service streak ended on a rare swinging error by junior outside hitter Saari Kuehl, and the Rebels led 14-1 before regaining serve immediately.

Freshman Megan Cooley took her turn at the service stripe and finished out the set, tallying three aces while Gladbrook-Reinbeck rattled off the last 11 points of the game. Kuehl came to life with five kills over the final eight points and finished the night with a match-high 12 kills.

Cooley came away with nine kills, sophomore middle hitter Katie Clark had eight kills and freshman outside hitter Ava Wyatt added four kills. G-R junior Emily Else tacked on one kill during her brief appearance in the front row during the third and final set. Freshman setter Emma McClintock totalted 30 assists.

For the night, Meskwaki earned just one point on a kill, as senior Payton Tahahwah recorded the Warriors’ only successful attack.

“As soon as they got her the ball, we knew that’s who we needed to watch for,” Kelley said of Tahahwah, “but our defense was in good position to pick up almost every [attack]. She had a couple good swings but we picked up most of it.”

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

Gladbrook-Reinbeck served 68-for-74 overall with 17 aces, led by Skovgard’s 18-for-18 with four aces. Kuehl was 12-for-12 with two aces, and Cooley was 15-for-17 with three aces. The Rebel defense accumulated just 11 digs against Meskwaki’s limited attack, while Clark led the way with two blocks.

“When we got the ball on our side of the net, the biggest thing was perfect passes and to run as many of our offensive sets as we could,” Kelley said. “We ran a lot of them tonight that we haven’t been running a lot, so we’ve been really focusing on different looks, different set and we ran a lot of them tonight.”

The Rebels have been running at a higher rate of efficiency than she anticipated when the season began, Kelley said, but that has helped Gladbrook-Reinbeck earn its No. 11 ranking and another round at home. G-R entertains NICL West Division foe AGWSR in the Region 5 quarterfinals on Monday night at 7 p.m. back in Reinbeck.

“We’re not looking at just tomorrow, we’re not practicing for one [opponent], you’re practicing for everybody,” Kelley said of her team’s postseason approach. “We like where we’re at. Next week will be our fourth game against AGWSR, so it’s going to be hard. It’s not going to be a gimmie game, it’s probably going to go five and it’s going to be who makes the least amount of mistakes.”

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE