Comets’ climb continues
No. 12 BCLUW bounces North Mahaska to reach regional final
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE BCLUW junior Cambria Wayman (8) goes up for the attack against North Mahaska during Monday’s Class 1A Region 5 volleyball semifinal match in Conrad. Wayman had a team-leading 15 kills in the 12th-ranked Comets’ 3-0 victory to advance to the regional finals for the fourth year in a row.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE BCLUW senior middle blocker Kylie Pekarek puts down one of her 10 kills around North Mahaska defender Sara Van Donselaar (16) during Monday’s Class 1A Region 5 volleyball match in Conrad.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE BCLUW’s Kylie Pekarek (14), Sally Ramirez (2) and Brinna Benson celebrate the final point of the 12th-ranked Comets’ 3-0 victory over North Mahaska on Monday night in Conrad. BCLUW advanced through to the Region 5 finals with a 25-23, 25-15, 25-21 triumph.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE BCLUW sophomore outside hitter Kennedy Davis, center, sends an attack between the double block of North Mahaska defenders Olivia Ridgeway (9) and Sara Van Donselaar, left, during the first set of Monday’s Class 1A Region 5 volleyball final in Conrad. Davis had eight kills in the Comets’ 3-0 win over the Warhawks.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE BCLUW defenders Kylie Pekarek (14) and Kennedy Davis (4) try for the block against North Mahaska right-side hitter Jocelyn Pinkerton (13) during Monday’s Class 1A Region 5 volleyball semifinal match in Conrad.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE BCLUW junior Cambria Wayman (8) goes up for the attack against North Mahaska during Monday’s Class 1A Region 5 volleyball semifinal match in Conrad. Wayman had a team-leading 15 kills in the 12th-ranked Comets’ 3-0 victory to advance to the regional finals for the fourth year in a row.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE BCLUW senior middle blocker Kylie Pekarek puts down one of her 10 kills around North Mahaska defender Sara Van Donselaar (16) during Monday’s Class 1A Region 5 volleyball match in Conrad.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE BCLUW’s Kylie Pekarek (14), Sally Ramirez (2) and Brinna Benson celebrate the final point of the 12th-ranked Comets’ 3-0 victory over North Mahaska on Monday night in Conrad. BCLUW advanced through to the Region 5 finals with a 25-23, 25-15, 25-21 triumph.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE BCLUW sophomore outside hitter Kennedy Davis, center, sends an attack between the double block of North Mahaska defenders Olivia Ridgeway (9) and Sara Van Donselaar, left, during the first set of Monday’s Class 1A Region 5 volleyball final in Conrad. Davis had eight kills in the Comets’ 3-0 win over the Warhawks.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE BCLUW defenders Kylie Pekarek (14) and Kennedy Davis (4) try for the block against North Mahaska right-side hitter Jocelyn Pinkerton (13) during Monday’s Class 1A Region 5 volleyball semifinal match in Conrad.
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CONRAD -- The BCLUW volleyball team was prepared to take its lumps. As long as the Comets learned from them, surrendering the points would be well worth it.
On Monday night, BCLUW got the best of both worlds.
The 12th-ranked Comets fought and won a neck-and-neck race for first set of their Class 1A Region 5 final over North Mahaska and eventually swept the Warhawks 3-0 to advance to the regional finals for the fourth year in a row, prevailing 25-23, 25-15, 25-21.
BCLUW (32-14) will meet No. 6 Holy Trinity Catholic (29-6) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Williamsburg High School in hopes of getting to the state volleyball tournament for the fourth year in a row.
North Mahaska (15-13) had won six straight matches entering Monday's regional semifinal, but the Comets took their best shot and stayed the course in pursuit of a return trip to Coralville.
Having won four times this season when losing the first set, BCLUW battled back and forth with a North Mahaska squad sporting a Division I recruit. Senior outside hitter Nataliya Linder, an Indiana State commit, came out swinging and had the Warhawks in position to play spoiler.
Linder had eight kills in the opening set as North Mahaska made the Comets work for everything they got. The Warhawks couldn't get ahead by more than three points, though, and BCLUW's hometown crowd kept its squad moving in the right direction.
Knotted up at 21-all, the Comets came away with consecutive points for their largest lead of the set, 23-21, and eventually it was a Cambria Wayman kill that closed out the first set.
Wayman, a junior utility, chalked up a match-high 15 kills to help BCLUW beat its typical learning curve.
"I think we're kind of a second-game team anyway," said Comet senior libero Brinna Benson. "I think it's just a learning process and it just takes a little bit to adjust, but I think we get there at some point."
Linder went over the BCLUW block for a number of her successful attacks, but she lost her groove in the second set as the Warhawks had trouble keeping up. Sophomore setter Sally Ramirez served up a 5-0 to give the Comets a 7-2 lead, and their advantage never dipped below three the rest of the set.
Wayman had seven of her kills in the second set, and Raine Sireno's successful swing scored the final point to put away a 2-0 lead for the hometown club.
"I think we've always started out just a little nervous," said BCLUW head coach Megan Yantis. "We did start in a little bit different rotation, which I think was good because it keeps our minds sharp. But I think just getting over that and making sure we're taking care of the ball, I felt like we got better as the night went on."
Three straight aces for Comet sophomore Kennedy Davis kicked off a 6-3 lead in the third set, but North Mahaska rallied and returned fire for a 9-8 edge. BCLUW scored the next five points behind Sireno's serving and never trailed again.
"Getting them out of system was so important," Yantis said. "That was a point of emphasis. It was definitely something that we talked about and part of our gameplan because we knew [Linder] was going to score. That was the other thing I wanted my kids to know: she's going to score, she's a very good player, she's going to have her moments, but we've just got to take it back when she does, and I felt we did that tonight."
Linder finished with just 11 kills after her hot start, leading the Warhawks just the same. Jocelyn Pinkerton added six kills and Bailee Bandstra had three more. Olivia Ridgeway led North Mahaska with four blocks, Jaylah Perez had three, and Jaiden Dickey tallied three serve aces.
"We actually changed our whole defense coming in," Benson said. "Watching film really helped us and our coach definitely prepared us and we knew that [Linder] was gonna swing hard and I think we adjusted really, really well.
"We know that she's a good hitter, we know she was gonna get points, but it was just how we bounced back and I think we did that very, very well."
Behind Wayman's 15 kills, senior middle blocker Kylie Pekarek had 10 kills, Davis added eight, Addison Moeller chipped in three and Sireno had two. Ramirez totaled 30 assists and combined with Pekarek for the Comets' only block.
Ramirez led the defense with 16 digs, Wayman had 14, Benson nine and Sireno eight as the Comets advanced. Ramirez also served 17-for-17 with one ace, Davis was 9-of-13 with a match-high four aces, and Maysa Stover pitched in 3-for-3 serving with one ace in her limited action. Sireno was 14-for-14 as well.
"Serving is such a big opportunity to get some free points," said Benson. "You really don't have to do much, just get it up and over. Watching film we knew who were their good passers, we knew who went in to play the front row defense, so it was just about knowing and being smart about who you're serving to."