Tigers Season Ends In Elite Eight Of Class 3A

The Tipton volleyball team is presented their state tournament, class 3A, quarterfinalist trophy after losing 3-0 to #6 Osage.  The 8th ranked Tigers made their first trip to state in program history.  Photo by Darren Miller.

By Ryan Stonebraker
Sports Editor, Tipton Conservative

CEDAR RAPIDS — Blink and it’s over.  It went that fast last week for the Tigers in the first round of the 2017 state volleyball tournament.  The Tigers historic season ended in the class 3A quarterfinal, Elite Eight match, at the hands of Osage, 3-0.  The Green Devils put the accelerator to the floor in their match with the Tigers, speeding up the match and taking advantage of the Tigers first trip to state.  Tipton overcame a slow start in the first set and was the first team to reach 12 points in the second set and 16 points in the third set, but Osage used momentum from a 25-18 first set win to race back in each of the other two sets to earn the 3-0 sweep.

The Tigers struggled early with jitters in their first state appearance.  Of the first four Tipton serve attempts, two were net serves and two others ended with Osage points off of Tipton kill attempt errors.

“We had a lot of jitters and got back on our heels early,” said Tipton volleyball coach Amy Calonder.

“Some of the kids were able to block it out focus in and some got scattered.  They (Osage) have good hitters, and they got us out of our system from the start and really controlled the tempo of the match.  They were all over the place,” said Calonder.

The pace of the match was something that the Tigers were not used to.  Little things like the time between points where on a normal match is longer, is sped up at state with match officials tracking down loose balls out of bounds while other officials have already given another ball to the serving team to keep match play moving.

Osage was swept in the first round of the 2016 state volleyball tournament by Union by scores of 25-19, 25-20 and 25-20.  Union went onto play for the 3A title before losing to Dike-New Hartford.  Six of those players from that team were in the lineup against the Tigers last week.

“We have a wide variety of hitters and that is to our advantage.  You can get stuck if you rely on one or two kids and you are in trouble if they are having an off night.  When we have multiple players with 3, 4 kills, we are right where we want to be,” said Osage coach Andie Olson.

“Tipton has a great team.  Sommer (Daniel) and Blake (Ehler) are great hitters and we really focused on getting blocks on them early.  We have a great block game and I think that helped in that first set win,” said Olson.

Osage offered up a relentless wave of attacks, 104 in the match, and had six players with at least three kills and four players with at least seven kills in the match.  Osage senior Kelsey Havel led with 12 kills while junior Sydney Midlang had 10 and freshman Danielle Johnson had 8.  Havel was a third team, class 3A All-State selection last season as a junior.

Tipton reached the state tournament with three, 3-0 sweeps, two of which were played at home.  Tipton beat WaMac foe Williamsburg 3-0 in the regional quarterfinals; SEISC foe Central Lee 3-0 in the regional semifinals; and Southeast Conference foe Davis County 3-0 in the Regional Final.

Osage reached the state tournament in a similar fashion with home sweeps in the regional quarterfinals and semifinals over Crestwood and Clear Lake. Osage then beat Forest City in the Regional Final in Clear Lake to reach their program’s 12th state tournament and second in as many seasons.

Junior Rylie Olson led Osage with a team high 35 assists, 8 digs and served 16-for-16.  Olson was an honorable mention, class 3A All-State selection as a junior.  Osage served 71-for-74 as a team.  Senior Brenna Jacobs led the Green Devils, going 18-for-19.  Kourtney Chambers led Osage in digs with 10.

Tipton had 32 kills on 101 attack attempts in the match.  Sommer Daniel and Blake Ehler each had 9 kills while Jamie Kofron had 5 and Amanda Smith and Kamryn Chapman each had 4.  Daniel had 14 assists and Smith 11.  Smith led in digs with 12 and Ehler chipped in 10.  

Tipton served 52-for-56 in the match.  Smith led, going 13-for-14 while Chapman was 11-for-12.

Tipton found itself trailing 10-4 in the first set, but fought back to cut the lead in half, setting the score at 10-8.  The Tigers never got the lead in the first set and got within two points later, 18-16 before falling 25-18.

Tipton led early in the second set, one that went back-and-forth with neither team getting more than a two-point lead through the first seven points.

Tipton lost the second set 25-19, but worked the middle more in the set, as Kamryn Chapman and Jamie Kofron each led the Tigers attacks in the set.  Tipton led 7-5 early and 14-13 in the middle of the set, but Osage closed the second set on an 11-6 run to claim a 2-0 match lead.

Tipton held their biggest lead in the match, four points, twice in the third set, at 5-1 and 13-9.  The Tigers were the first team to score 16 points in the set, but Osage again rallied, using a long run to grab the lead and hold onto it, claiming the third set 25-18.

The Tigers end their historic run with a school record for most match wins.  Tipton’s final record will be 32 wins, 7 losses.  The Tigers finished the season 80-23 in set scores.  Tipton finished as one of only nine class 3A programs with 30 or more match wins this season.  The Tigers started the season 5-0 and had a season high 13-match win streak in the middle part of their season.

Tipton will return their entire rotation next season, saying goodbye to only two seniors, Allie Ryan and Hannah Sweeney.

“I told the kids after the match to not let this match define our season.  We won 32 matches, a school record.  We accomplished so much, together.  So much, as a team.  This isn’t the result we wanted, but we had an awesome season,” said Calonder.

Class 3A State Tournament Box Scores:

Wednesday, November 8

At U.S. Cellular Center, Cedar Rapids

Quarterfinals

Osage 3, Tipton 0

Tipton 18 19 18

Osage 25 25 25

Tipton (32-7) Statistics:

Attacks (83-for-101 32 kills): Sommer Daniel 17-25 9 kills, Blake Ehler 22-23 9 kills, Amanda Smith 15-17 4 kills, Jamie Kofron 12-14 5 kills, Kamryn Chapman 7-9 4 kills, Bailey Schmidt 7-9 1 kill, Emily Hermsen 3-4.

Assists (28): Sommer Daniel 14, Amanda Smith 11, Jamie Kofron 2, Blake Ehler 1.

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

Serving (52-for-56 3 aces): Amanda Smith 13-for-14 1 ace, Kamryn Chapman 11-for-12 1 ace, Jamie Kofron 9-for-10, Blake Ehler 9-for-9 1 ace, Sommer Daniel 5-for-6, Emily Hermsen 5-for-5.

Digs (39): Amanda Smith 12, Blake Ehler 10, Jamie Kofron 6, Sommer Daniel 5, Emily Hermsen 3, Laken Hermiston 2, Bailey Schmidt 1.

Osage (26-9) Statistics:

Attacks (88-for-104 44 kills): Kelsey Havel 23-27 12 kills, Danielle Johnson 17-20 8 kills, Sydney Midlang 17-18 10 kills, Brenna Jacobs 14-18 7 kills, Paige Kisley 12-15 4 kills, Rylie Olson 5-6 4 kills.

Assists (42): Rylie Olson 35, Kourtney Chambers 4, Brenna Jacobs 1, Danielle Johnson 1, Sophia Midlang 1.

Blocks (4): Kelsey Havel 1, Danielle Johnson 1, Paige Kisley 1, Sydney Midlang 1.

Serving (71-for-74 3 aces): Brenna Jacobs 18-for-19 1 ace, Rylie Olson 16-for-16 1 ace, Sydney Midlang 14-for-14, Sophia Muller 11-for-12 1 ace, Kourtney Chambers 6-for-7, Kelsey Havel 6-for-6.

Digs (44): Kourtney Chambers 10, Rylie Olson 8, Kelsey Havel 7, Brenna Jacobs 7, Sophia Muller 6, Sydney Midlang 5, Danielle Johnson 1.