Cardinals fall in opening round of Regional play

It was a disappointing night for the Garner-Hayfield/Ventura volleyball team on Monday, Oct. 27, as they fell to Estherville-Lincoln Central in the first round of regional play.

E-LC came ready to play and they won the first two matches, 25-22 and 25-21.  The Cardinals weren’t about to give up, however, and they captured the next two games easily with scores of 25-17 and 25-16.  

“The girls battled to put themselves in a great position to win the match.  We focused on being the first team to 5-10-15-20-25 points and they accomplished that goal in games three and four,” said Head Coach Kelsey Steffens.

The game came down to the final match, but the wheels totally fell off the GHV team, as the Midgets cruised to an easy 15-4 final match victory.

Mackenzie Van Gerpen did all she could to help the cause, leading her team in two categories.  She led the team in offense with 20 kills and also in defense with 21 digs.

Hannah Lau also had a good night at the net, collecting 15 kills, followed by Emily Spilman who knocked down nine.  Sydney Younge and Grace Tusha each had four kills.

Spilman and Mallory Van Oort were leaders on defense with 17 and 14 digs respectively.  Carlie Knutson recorded seven digs and Younge had six. Stacy Hackenmiller had four digs.

Four players served at 100 percent for the night.  Stacy Hackenmiller led the team with 13 points on serve.  Spilman had two ace serves and had seven points on serve.  Van Oort had nine points on serve and Younge had seven, with one ace.  Also serving well, was Knutson with seven points and Van Gerpen added five.

“The girls had a great year and should be proud of their play throughout the season,” said Steffens.

The Cardinals ended the season with an overall record of 24-10 and a conference record of 7-3.  The Cardinals finished fourth in the North Iowa Conference.  Lake Mills won the regular season and the Conference Tournament.