Rebels dispatch shorthanded Orioles in state quarterfinal

CEDAR RAPIDS – COVID-19 interjected itself into the Class 1A state volleyball tournament once again on Tuesday.

Springville played without starters Lily Clark and Grace Matus, but the Orioles gave the Rebels as much fight as they could muster before G-R triumphed in a 3-0 sweep to advance to Wednesday's 1A semifinals.

The Rebels won 25-9, 26-24, 25-11 and will face eight-seed Council Bluffs St. Albert, which upended top-ranked Janesville in another Tuesday quarterfinal.

After a positive COVID test resulted in second-seeded Wapsie Valley withdrawing from the 1A field, it's now a wide-open race for the title. Gehlen Catholic, Burlington Notre Dame, St. Albert and Gladbrook-Reinbeck remain.

So, why not the Rebels?

"Coming down and winning in three sets really sets the tone where the girls feel they're going to be at, no matter who's on the other side of the net," G-R head coach Paula Kelley said. "But St. Albert is good. They can hit the ball, but we've got blockers, we've got hitters, they’ve got blockers, they've got hitters. It's gonna be another good match."

Matus was Springville's leading defender this season with 326 digs; Clark had generated the most blocks at the net for the Orioles and averaged 1.7 kills per set.

The Rebels immediately pounced on that advantage, jumping out to a 15-6 lead fueled by Springville errors. From there, Saari Kuehl, Megan Cooley and Ava Wyatt went to work, keeping the Orioles defense on their heels.

Kuehl finished with 19 kills on 46 attacks and has eclipsed 1,500 kills for her high school career. Wyatt added nine kills and Megan Cooley put down six kills.

"I thought we relaxed really well right away and just did what we could," Kuehl said. "We passed really well, we served really well which got Emma setting great and our hitting was awesome."

Springville got more comfortable in the second set, and the Orioles were aided by G-R attacking errors. The Orioles' first lead of the match came at 22-21, and Springville had the Rebels on the edge at 24-22 before an Orioles attack error and Kuehl kill tied the match 24-all. Another Springville kill error set up set point for the Rebels, and Kuehl hammered it home for the 2-0 advantage.

"We knew that we could come back," McClintock said. "We just weren't connecting well, but we started coming around."

It all came together in the third set. A net violation for Springville gave G-R the first point and Megan Cooley took the Rebels on a wild ride at the service line with what became a 13-0 opening run. Cooley was consistent both at the line and at the net, and fellow middle Katie Clark stepped up her game to add even more diversity to a multi-faceted Rebel attack.

"I really wanted us to settle down early, because two years ago we didn't get there very fast," Kelley said. "We had some good key hits instead of getting bullied right away. … We just really clicked. We hit well and we got a lot of touches on the ball."

It's the first win for the Rebels in the state volleyball tournament since 1988 when G-R reached the 1A state championship game back when the tournament was held at Southeast Polk.

In more recent times, Emma McClintock remembers watching as an eighth grader when Gladbrook-Reinbeck got bounced from the quarterfinals by Janesville two years ago.

She wanted to be out there with them, and she and several others got their wish on Tuesday night.

"I wanted to do this too," McClintock said. "And it's just super exciting. … But we still have to have a strong state of mind and know that the rest of these teams are super good, too."

G-R 25-26-25

Springville 9-24-11

Kills–S'ville (Kennady Breitfelder 9); G-R (Saari Kuehl 19, Ava Wyatt 9, Megan Cooley 6, Katie Clark 4, Mahayla Olson 3).

Assists–S'ville (Nia Howard 20); G-R (Emma McClintock 33, Alyssa Morgan 4, Cooley 1, Clark 1, Olson 1).

Digs–S'ville (Ashlynne Zaruba 11); G-R (Olson 12, Cooley 12, McClintock 11, Kuehl 8, Stephanie Kehoe 6, Wyatt 5, Morgan 5, Clark 1).

Blocks–S'ville (Lauren Wilson 3); G-R (Wyatt 3, Clark 3, Olson 2, Cooley 1).

Serving–S'ville (Penny Blackmore 7-7, ace); G-R (Cooley 26-26, 2 aces; RiLynn Bergman 12-12, ace; Olson 10-10, ace; Kuehl 9-9, ace; Morgan 7-8; McClintock 9-9).