Tigers get win in tourney here

Ipswich swept the Ipswich Division of a Mobridge-Pollock Invitational girls' high school vollyball tourney Saturday in the Ipswich Tiger Den. The IHS Tigers methodically defeated Leola/Frederick 25-14, 25-14 and 25-15. And they had a more difficult 25-15, 25-23, 25-21 sweep of the North Central Thunder.

On the all-tournament team from Ipswich were Halle Heinz, Chesney Olivier and Paige Mehlberg, who had also recently become the IHS career total blocking leader. And her kill gave Ipswich a 24-13 lead late in the third set versus the Titans.

Ipswich closed out that match with 57 hits that featured 33 kills, paced by Mehlberg, 9-10 with eight kills, Lindsey Grabowska 11-15 with seven kills and Hailey Bierman 13-17 with seven kills as well. The Tigers were 57 of 70 at the service line vs. the Titans and dropped in 13 aces. Heinz led Ipswich at 20-21 with eight aces and Chesney Olivier was 12-13 with a pair of aces.

In setting, Ipswich was led by Heinz, going 54-56 with 23 assists. Ipswich totaled 30 assists among its 64 total sets.

Mehlberg totaled two solo blocks and one assisted block, followed by Hailey Feldman, also with one assist. Ipswich had 41 total digs, led by Chesney Oliver with 15 and Tarynn Kleffman with seven.

Leola/Frederick had 26 team hits with five kills and a 39-43 serving effort with only three aces and 26 digs.

The Tiger girls indeed systematically created a 25-15 opening set win over North Central, but Ipswich needed late rallies to overcome the Thunder in set #2 and set #3. Chesney Olivier's ace made it 24-23 for Ipswich late in the second set and Kate Geditz added the set point on a kill. Eventually the Tiger girls acquired a late 24-21 lead in the third set and a Thunder hitting error gave Ipswich its much needed match point to nail down the win.

Ipswich utilized a 94 of 115 net attack with 35 kills, led by Hailey Bierman, 24-29 with 13 kills, Halie Feldman 12-17 with four kills and Mehlberg 15-18 also with four kills. (The Thunder were 61-71 at the net with 15 kills.) At the line Ipswich was able to include nine aces among its 65 accurate serves, led by Ashton Loken, 9-10 with three aces and Grabowska, 18-20 with two aces. The Thunder responded with a 52-58 serving effort that featured three aces.

Ipswich got a 84-85 setting afternoon from Heinz, who had 21 of the Tigers' 28 assists.

Defensively, Mehlberg paced Ipswich with two solo blocks and three assisted blocks and Feldman added three solo efforts. Ipswich obtained 98 digs, led by Chesney Olivier with 34 and Heinz with 17.

Ipswich was next scheduled to host Warner on Tuesday, Sept. 15 and will play at Northwestern on the 17th, followed by its own tournament invite on September 19 in the Tiger Den. Ipswich will also host Potter County on the 22nd of this month.