D-NH sweeps Cougars in state return

CEDAR RAPIDS – A young Dike-New Hartford team settled in quickly for a sweep of Sumner-Fredericksburg in a Class 2A state quarterfinal at Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday.

The third-seeded Wolverines knocked out the Cougars, 25-17, 25-12, 25-13. D-NH (30-4) plays Wilton (33-3) in a state semifinal on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. back in Cedar Rapids. Tuesday's win was the first for D-NH at state since 2017 – the Wolverines were knocked out by Unity Christian in the 2018 quarters and didn't make it in 2019.

That resulted in a lot of new faces stepping on the court in blue and black on Tuesday.

"They came in today to a really big stage, and we just played like we played all year," D-NH head coach Diane Harms said. "We kept our focus, we were aggressive, we dug a ton of balls to give ourselves a chance, we just asked them do what we we've done all year and they started off strong this first match."

D-NH freshman Payton Petersen slammed a game-high 16 kills and added eight digs and four total blocks.

She had two kills in D-NH's initial 5-0 run to start the match. In the second set, D-NH finished on a 13-3 run, and spun up a duplicate 13-point scoring run in the third set to finish off the sweep.

"I was definitely nervous at first, but my teammates were an amazing help," Petersen said. "They boosted my confidence a lot. … We just had to keep having energy – once we got the nerves out, we had energy and we knew we were pretty good."

Jadyn Petersen added eight kills, a team-leading 12 digs and was 18-of-20 serving with three ace serves. Lexie Fager added 10 digs and was 11-of-11 at the line, also with three aces.

Madelyn Norton finished with 33 assists.

"Our middles connected really well tonight," said Norton, a sophomore setter. "We had a pretty fast offense and to do that you need to click really well, and we did that tonight."

The Wolverines posted a bigger margin of victory against the Cougars than in D-NH's three-set victory during the regular season. They landed 39-of-91 attacks for a .319 offense efficiency, while the Cougars committed 17 attack errors while only landing 22 kills.

Isabelle Elliott led Sumner-Fred with 10 kills.

"We did not want them to get on a roll," Harms said. "They'd get a couple or three points and I'd tell the girls that we need to step up and make a play."

D-NH's poise at the service line kept the Cougars on their heels on Tuesday. In addition to nine ace serves, the Wolverines converted 92 percent of their serves and got a great performance from freshman Claire McCumber, who rotated in after the first set and went 19-of-19 with two aces. It was only McCumber's 10th varsity match of the year.

"She didn't have any idea she was going to play today," Harms said. "And she came in where we were able to get some really good runs almost every time she was in for us. The serve is a huge part of that."

Wilton is in its first semifinal since 2004. The Beavers have been to state three years in a row and defeated 3A semifinalist Davenport Assumption earlier this year at a Sept. 19 tournament.

"Their strength is in their middles, which is a little different than Sumner's bigger strengths," Harms said. "We've never seen Wilton, we've never played Wilton, so we'll have to go watch and see what we want to try and attack."

D-NH 25-25-25

S-F 17-12-13

Kills–S-F (Isabelle Elliott 10); D-NH (Payton Petersen 16, Jadyn Petersen 8, Ellie Knock 6, Taylor Hoehns 4, Madelyn Norton 3, Ryanne Shoemaker 2).

Assists–S-F (Morgan Brandt 10, Payton Seehase 8); D-NH (Norton 33, Lexie Fager 3, J. Petersen 1)

Digs–S-F (Brandt 9); D-NH (J. Petersen 12, Fager 10, P. Petersen 8), Norton 3, Shoemaker 1, Claire McCumber 1).

Blocks–S-F (Katie Reno 3); D-NH (P. Petersen 4, Hoehns 2, Knock 1).

Serving–S-F (Seehase 9-9); D-NH (J. Petersen 18-20, 3 aces; Fager 11-11, 3 aces; McCumber 19-19, 2 aces; P. Petersen 6-8, ace; Jillian Beuter 5-5; Norton 7-7; Neuroth 1-3).