Tigers compete at VB tourney in Castlewood

Ipswich's volleyball team got to attend a Saturday event, the Dakota Valley Conference Tourney, in Castlewood.

"They were looking for a team to replace a team that was out because of covid," said IHS coach Trent Osborne. "I felt we needed some more court time, since we have so much time off after this Monday."

But the Tiger girls dropped a pair of best-of-three decisions against quality teams. They lost to Estelline/Hendricks 25-21 and 25-23 and also lost to the host team 25-17 and 25-13.

Against EH, Ipswich's hitting leaders were Paige Mehlberg nine of 12 with five kills and Lindsey Grabowska 16-17 with four kills. The team was 66-79 with 23 kills. At the service line they finished 42-44 with two aces, led by Chesney Olivier 10-10 with one ace and Tarynn Kleffman 9-10 with the other ace. They were 78-81 in setting with 20 assists, led by Halle Heinz 35-38 with eight assists and Bailey Pitz 27-27 with seven assists.

They had one solo block and four assisted blocks, led by Gracie Lange with that lone solo and two assists. Halie Feldman had three assists and Hailey Bierman two assists. Ipswich had 72 digs, paced by Grabowska with 19 and Chesney Olivier with 17.

Versus Castlewood the Lady Tigers were 46-64 at the net and included 18 kills. Grabowska finished 14-22 there with six kills and Lange was 7-8 with three kills. The team fueled that attack with 55 sets in as many tries that included 13 assists, led by Heinz, 16-16 with five assists and Pitz, 28-29 with 6 assists. In serving, Ipswich went 37-38 with three aces. Feldman was 3-5 with two aces and Chesney Olivier 3-3 with one ace.

There was one solo block and one assisted block by the Lady Tigers, led by Feldman with that solo and Mehlberg with the assist. The IHS netters came away with 38 digs that day, led by Chesney Olivier with 14 and Pitz with nine.

"We were able to use the day to find some of our deficiencies and what we need to work on for the next few weeks, as we ready ourselves for the tournament run," Osborne concluded.

The Tigers were scheduled to play Leola/Frederick Area in Leola on Monday. They will end the regular season on Monday, Oct. 26 in Selby against Herreid/Selby Area.