Grundy Center volleyball best in the West after G-R sweep

GRUNDY CENTER – Grundy Center volleyball returned to the top of the NICL West last Tuesday with a straight-set victory over Gladbrook-Reinbeck.

Grundy Center won 25-23, 25-14, 25-18, and completed an undefeated run through the West opposition this season, with only one set dropped in divisional play.

“It really feels like our hard work and our team’s hard work is really paying off,” Jordan Launstein said. “We were playing together as a team tonight, communicating and working together, celebrating each other, picking each other back up. That’s what really separates us.”

It’s the first outright division title for the Spartans since 2019 - the Spartans split it with G-R and South Hardin in 2020, and South Hardin ended a string of 12-consecutive championship seasons for the Spartans, running the table in 2021.

“Talking to the girls after this match, I was fighting back a lot of tears,” Grundy Center head coach Lori Willis said. “I was very proud of them because it’s years in the making. They’ve been working on this for years, and to finally get that, and do it when our conference is so highly competitive, it really means something special. And I’ve coached a lot of these girls for so long but this group of juniors I’ve been with since fourth grade, and to see them develop into the players they are, it blows my mind.”

Grundy Center’s two seniors, Launstein and Mallory Haddeman, were honored on Tuesday as part of Senior Night.

“Mallory’s a great communicator and she’s like the mother of the group,” Willis said. “That’s a huge quality when it comes to a team of females that she brings, and we absolutely love her for that. Jordan has a deep desire to keep getting better, and she doesn’t settle - I don’t think ‘good enough’ is in her vocabulary. And that rubs off on the other girls to want more.”

Launstein put up two total blocks on Tuesday and added two digs. Haddeman had her first start of the season on Tuesday and contributed a dig for the team.

“It was different to be out there and experiencing it,” Haddeman said. “I want to make sure that they have someone that is always going to be there for them, no matter what, whether I’m on the bench or out there with them - I will always be their biggest supporter.”

Grundy Center’s serving set the Spartans apart on Tuesday. While the Spartans only recorded seven aces, plenty more serves put G-R out of system where the Rebels, at the time ranked eighth in Class 1A, were able to get it over, but often as free-balls for the Spartans to set up their system and pound away at the Rebel defense.

“We served them off the court,” Willis said. “We missed more than we’re used to lately, but we served them so aggressive that they couldn’t run their middles, and then we’re mostly focusing on Ava [Wyatt].”

Carlie Willis had 18 kills and Kayden Muller added seven kills for the Spartans. Ellery Luhring distributed 25 assists, and the Spartan student section recognized her 2,000th career assist early on in Tuesday’s match.

In a competitive first set, G-R rallied to tie the match at 19-all with a couple Megan Cooley aces and kills from Kennedy Brant and Ava Wyatt.

“We have that capability of coming from behind. The girls don’t panic and they get back into it,” G-R head coach Paula Kelley said.

The Spartans squirmed ahead on attack errors and service errors, however, and despite G-R’s best efforts to break set point, the third set point was the charm on a Carlie Willis kill.

Wyatt led the Rebels with 12 kills. Megan Cooley contributed four kills and three blocks.

G-R missed nine serves, and combined with serve-receive struggles, the match got away from the Rebels.

“They had tough, good servers, but it’s nothing more difficult than we see in practice,” Kelley said. “And we didn’t play up to our capabilities at the serve receive level. … It’s a lot of self-reflection [going forward] - what do I need to get better at? What can I do for the team?”

Grundy Center, riding the high of splitting with a highly-ranked 5A team from Dowling the weekend prior, now will likely run into even more ranked opposition in this week’s NICL Tournament.

“I hope we realize that no matter how far behind, that we keep coming back,” Haddeman said. “We are a team and a family and as long as we communicate with one another, we can be unstoppable.”

GC 3, G-R 0. Kills–G-R (Ava Wyatt 12, Megan Cooley 4, Jaden Hansen 3); GC (Carlie Willis 18, Kayden Muller 7, Shirley Monaghan 6). Assists–G-R (Emma McClintock 18); GC (Ellery Luhring 25). Digs–G-R (McClintock 8, Madisyn Eggers 7, Wyatt, Cooley, Breehan Dubberke 4); GC (Lucy Lebo 13, Willis 6, Luhring 5). Blocks–G-R (Cooley 3, McClintock, Lily Dripps 2); GC (Muller 4, Jordan Launstein 2, Monaghan, Paige Venenga 1). Serving–G-R (Dylinn Blohm 5-5, 2 aces; Cooley 14-14, 2 aces; Eggers 8-9; Wyatt 8-9); GC (Luhring 18-19, 3 aces; Venenga 9-9, ace; Lebo 11-12, ace; Willis 10-12, ace; Muller 10-13, ace).