Cardinals dominate tournament

Garner-Hayfield/Ventura dominated its own tournament on Saturday.  The Cards defeated Central Springs 2-1 (21-11, 19-21, 15-9), Newman Catholic 2-0 (21-17, 21-17); Northwood-Kensett 2-0 (21-15, 21-19) and North Iowa (21-13, 21-12) on their way to the championship match.  

In the finals they faced Northwood-Kensett for a second time and were victorious, 2-1.  Game scores were 21-9, 22-24, 15-13.

“The girls played as a team and were able to beat Northwood-Kensett in the finals to win the tournament. In practice we have been working on starting off strong and finishing games.  The girls are continuing to improve and that’s what is most important this time of year,” said Coach Kelsey Steffens. “Our passing allowed us to run a spread offense and our front row was defensively tough throughout the tournament.”

In the championship game, Hannah Lau was a force at the net, putting down 10 kills.  MacKenzie VanGerpen had seven kills.  Emily Spilman had three kills, Sydney Younge two and Grace Tusha and Madee Hejna each had one.  VanGerpen led the team with 10 digs.