Opening Statement! Tigers Sweep WaMac Foe To state postseason

Tipton junior Blake Ehler (13) puts one of her 5 kills down through a Williamsburg block attempt during the first set of the Tigers 3-0 sweep at home over the Raiders in their 3A Regional opener. The Tigers advanced to play Central Lee in the 3A semifinals. The 3A Regional Final is Monday, October 30 at Williamsburg. Also pictured are Sommer Daniel (4) and Jamie Kofron (9). Photo by Ryan Stonebraker. 

Win sends Tigers to 3A Region 8 Semifinals

By Ryan Stonebraker
Sports Editor

TIPTON — 8th ranked Tipton survived a spirited first set in their class 3A Region 8 opener with Williamsburg last Wednesday to advance to the semifinals of the Region this week.  The Tigers swept the Raiders 3-0 and beat them for the second time this season.  The Tigers beat Williamsburg 2-1 at the Raiders home tournament in Mid-September.  The Tigers won their 30th match of the season, one of only seven 3A programs with 30 wins this season to date.

The Tigers got a spirited effort from the Raiders in a close first set win 26-24.  Seven times in the set, the Tigers matched a Williamsburg side out with a side out of their own, killing a possible momentum shift.  Sommer Daniel and Kamryn Chapman served the Tigers to leads early, 5-3 and 10-6 respectivley.  Two Amanda Smith points on tap overs gave Tipton their biggest lead of the set at 15-8.  Tipton led 19-13 but Williamsburg rallied behind the serving of Karly Berkland.  Berkland served the Raiders to three straight points and a 19-16 score.

Later, Tipton clung to a 23-22 lead with Williasburg serving.  The Raiders blocked a THS kill to tie the set at 23.  The Raiders took their first lead of the set, 24-23 on a Talia McAtee ace.  A Sommer Daniel kill tied the match at 24.  Daniel then served the Tigers to two points to win the set 26-24.  Blake Ehler got a kill to give the Tigers the 25-24 lead and a Raider hitting error gave the Tigers their 26th point.

Tipton got off to a good start in the second set, taking a 4-1 lead behind Raider errors.  Tipton led 6-3 and 7-3 before the Raiders rallied.  Williamsburg cut the Tigers lead to two points at 7-5, 8-6, 10-8 and 11-9.  The Tigers had seen enough though and extended their lead to four points, 13-9 on a Sommer Daniel kill.  Another Daniel kill set the score at 14-10.  Two Raider errors gave Tipton thier biggest lead in the set at six points, 16-10.  Later, a Daniel kill gave Tipton a 21-15 lead and a Blake Ehler block set the score at 22-15.  Ehler had a tap over drop for a Tipton point making the score 24-15 and a Jamie Kofron kill ended the second set with a Tipton win 25-16, and 2-0 match lead.

The third set was all Tipton.  Williamsburg served first and Kofron scored the first THS points with a kill.  Amanda Smith then served the Tigers to six straight points and a 7-0 lead.   Williamsburg rallied to cut the Tiger lead to five, 12-7 later in the set.  Then Emily Hermsen took the wind out of the Raiders sails, serving two straight aces followed by kills from Daniel and Ehler to give Tipton four straight points and a 16-7 lead.  The Tigers ended the set on a 9-5 run to claim the set 25-12 and the match 3-0.

Tipton had 104 attacks in the match and 43 kills.  Sommer Daniel led Tipton with 19 kills in 35 attacks.  Amanda Smith had 7 and Jamie Kofron and Blake Ehler each had 5.  Smith and Daniel had 22 and 12 assists to lead Tipton.  The Tigers served 66-for-75 in the match with three aces.  Smith was the top server, going 17-for-20 while Kamryn Chapman and Jamie Kofron each were 12-for-12.  Daniel and Ehler shared the lead in digs with 12 and Smith added 10.

Williamsburg had 102 attacks in the match with Emily Simmons haveing 6 kills and Mia Kittelson with 5.  Grace Ehret had 17 assists and Talia McAtee had 12 digs.  Williamsburg served 48-for-51 with 5 aces in the match led by McAtee with an 11-for-11 1 ace night.

Tipton advanced to play Central Lee in the 3A Region 8 semifinals.  Central Lee is out of the Southeast Iowa Super Conference and has a record of 16-15.  Central Lee finished sixth in their division.  Central Lee has four players with over 100 kills led by senior Anna Krehbiel with 171 and freshman Mya Merschman with 170.  Senior setter Ava Doyle leads in assists with 374 and sophomore Sophie Woodley leads in digs with 334.

Rockets and Mustangs Advance

On the lower half of the bracket, Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont and Davis County advanced to play in the other Region 8 semifinal.

The Rockets beat Albiz 3-0 at home last Wednesday in a 3A quarterfinal.  EBF won by scores of 25-21, 25-22 and 25-14.  Grace Roberts and Torie Alexander led in kills with 8 each as EBF had 94 attacks in the match.  Emma Bunnell had 24 assists and Emalee Davis 6 digs to lead the Rockets.  The Rockets had 12 blocks and served 64-for-73 with 10 aces as a team.  Bunnell led EBF in serving, going 15-for-16.

Davis County placed third in the South Central Conference this year.  The Mustangs improved to 16-22 with a 3-0 win over Centerville.  Davis County beat the Big Red 3-1 on the road during the regular season and 2-0 at the Fairfield tournament on October 14.

Davis County swept Centerville in the Regional Quarterfinal at home on October 18.  The Mustangs won by scores of 25-11, 25-19 and 25-13.

Bailea Yahnke had 26 attacks and 11 kills while Kaden Porter and Shelby Motykowski each had 6 kills.  Senior Alexa Francis had 30 assists and Hannah Schooley led in digs with 8.  Davis County served 65-for-70 with 11 aces in the match led by Schooley who was 16-for-17 with 4 aces and Yahnke who was 16-for-18 with 3 aces.

The Rockets won the South Central Conference this year and enter the 3A semifinal with a record of 21-15.  The Rockets and Mustangs have met three times this season, two during tournaments with the Rockets winning all three matches by a combined 7-1 set score.

The top two kill leaders in the SCC are on each team.  Senior Torie Alexander for the Rockets had 341 and junior Bailea Yahnke has 328 for the Mustangs.  EBF has another player with over 100 kills with 108 in Grace Roberts and another close to 100 with Lexi Taylor having 98.  The Mustangs next hitter has 115 kills in sophomore Kaden Porter.

The top two assist leaders in the SCC are on each team with Emma Bunnell leading the Rockets with 667 and Alexa Francis leading the Mustangs with 576.

The Rockets are first in the SCC in ace serves with 241 while the Mustangs are fifth with 175.  Neither team has a high serve effeciency.  The Rockets are tops in the SCC in blocks, but fifth in digs.  The Mustangs are one of four SCC teams with over 1,000 digs with 1,008. The Rockets advanced to the state tournament last year in class 2A.

1st Set -

That was a tough set.  They ran down everything.

Big runs -

We had a lot of first balls we took care of in the second set and that will take the wind out of your sails.  

Class 3A Region 8 quarterfinal

Wednesday, October 18

At Tipton

Tipton 3, Williamsburg 0

W’burg 24 16 12

Tipton 26 16 12

Tipton Statistics:

Attacks (93-104 43 kills): Sommer Daniel 29-35 19 kills, Blake Ehler 19-20 5 kills, Amanda Smith 15-17 7 kills, Kamryn Chapman 12-12 5 kills, Jamie Kofron 11-11 6 kills, Emily Hermsen 7-9 1 kill.

Assists (39): Amanda Smith 22, Sommer Daniel 12, Jamie Kofron 2, Blake Ehler 2, Emily Hermsen 1.

Blocks (4): Sommer Daniel 2, Kamryn Chapman 1, Jamie Kofron 1.

Serving (66-for-75 3 aces): Amanda Smith 17-for-20, Kamryn Chapman 12-for-12, Jamie Kofron 12-for-12, Emily Hermsen 9-for-12 3 aces, Blake Ehler 8-for-10, Sommer Daniel 8-for-9.

Digs (56): Sommer Daniel 12, Blake Ehler 12, Amanda Smith 10, Jamie Kofron 8, Emily Hermsen 8, Laken Hermiston 4, Kamryn Chapman 2.

Williamsburg Statistics:

Attacks (84-102 21 kills): Mia Kittelson 18-18 5 kills, Gracie Ehret 13-16 1 kill, Emily Simmons 12-16 6 kills, Taylor Busch 11-15 3 kills, Karly Berkland 10-12 1 kill, Jenna Grell 10-12 4 kills, Kortni Gensley 7-9, Alaena Trevino 1-2, Talia McAtee 2-2 1 kill.

Assists (21): Gracie Ehret 17, Karly Berkland 2, Kortni Gensley 1, Alaena Trevino 1.

Blocks (2): Emily Simmons 1, Mia Kittelson 1.

Serving (48-for-51 5 aces): Talia McAtee 11-for-11 1 ace, Gracie Ehret 9-for-9 1 ace, Kortni Gensley 8-for-9 1 ace, Emily Simmons 8-for-8 1 ace, Alaena Trevino 7-for-7, Karly Berkland 5-for-7 1 ace.

Digs (51): Karly Berkland 16, Talia McAtee 12, Emily Simmons 11, Greta Simmons 5, Gracie Ehret 3, Kortni Gensley 2, Jenna Grell 1, Mia Kittelson 1.

Tipton’s Kamryn Chapman (15) goes after a  ball hit to the back row during the second set of the Tigers 3-0 sweep over Williamsburg last week. Chapman had 5 kills, served 12-for-12 and had 2 digs. Photo by Ryan Stonebraker.