Tigers Get Past Durant, Move To 2-0 In RVC

  DURANT — The Tipton Tigers have not had a lot of success over the past ten seasons against the Durant Wildcats. In that time, the Tigers are have five wins in their last 16 matches. However, last Thursday, the Tigers beat the Wildcats 3-1 to improve to 2-0 in the River Valley Conference and 10-2 overall. The Tigers won their fifth straight match against the Wildcats. The Tigers were 1-11 in the previous 12 matches.

  The Tigers had a unique match against the Wildcats. Tipton won the first set 25-17. Durant tied the match at 1-1 with a marathon 29-27 win in the second set. Tipton would re-take the lead 2-1 with a 25-18 third set win. The Tigers then outlasted the Wildcats 29-27 in the fourth set to claim the match 3-2.

  The match gave the Tigers a 2-0 RVC record. Tipton swept Iowa City Regina at home on August 30. The victor was the fourth straight match win overall for the Tigers. Tipton has a busy week ahead with two key RVC matches and a weekend tournament at Williamsburg. Tipton will host Mid-Prairie Tuesday before traveling to class 3A No. 7 West Liberty on Thursday.

  Tipton had 145 attacks in the match with 60 kills. The Tigers used the 1-2 punch of junior Sommer Daniel and senior Blake Ehler. The duo combined for 38 of the 60 kills for Tipton. Daniel had a team high 22 kills while Ehler had 16 kills. Daniel and Amanda Smith had 24 and 23 assists in the match. The Tigers had 82 digs with five players with at least 11 each. Smith and Karlee Kamberling each had 18 digs. The Tigers served 93-for-105 with 6 aces in the match. Amanda Smith was the top Tipton server, going 24-for-25 with an ace serve.

  Durant had 86 attacks in the match and 47 kills. Three Wildcats reached double digits in kill totals in the match. Aubrin Dittmer had 16, Kamryn Meyer 14 and Mallory Warner 11. Ruby Kappeler had 46 assists while Hannah Happ led four Wildcats with double digit dig totals with a team best 16. Durant served 76-for-86 in the match with 5 ace serves. Dittmer led the Wildcats in serving, going 17-for-18 with 3 aces.

  The Wildcats fell to 6-2 and 1-1 in the River Valley Conference after the loss. The Wildcats beat Mid-Prairie 3-0 on August 30 in their RVC opener. Durant started the season 6-0 before losing their last two matches. The Wildcats have two River Valley Conference matches this week, both on the road. Durant travels to Iowa City Regina Tuesday, before going to West Branch on Thursday.

Tipton 3, Durant 1
Thursday, September 6
At Durant
Tipton 25 27 25 29
Durant 17 29 18 27

Tipton Statistics:
Attacks (127-145 60 kills): Sommer Daniel 44-51 22 kills, Blake Ehler 27-34 16 kills, Amanda Smith 17-17 8 kills, Jamie Kofron 14-16 5 kills, Kamryn Chapman 12-14 5 kills, Emily Hermsen 13-13 4 kills.
Assists (55): Sommer Daniel 24, Amanda Smith 23, Karlee Kamberlin 5, Jamie Kofron 2, Blake Ehler 1.
Serving (93-for-105 6 aces): Amanda Smith 24-for-25 1 ace, Blake Ehler 16-for-19 1 ace, Jamie Kofron 13-for-17 2 aces, Laken Hermiston 15-for-16, Sommer Daniel 15-for-16 1 ace, Kamryn Chapman 10-for-12 1 ace.
Digs (82): Amanda Smith 18, Karlee Kamberling 18, Blake Ehler 17, Sommer Daniel 14, Laken Hermiston 11, Emily Hermsen 2, Jamie Kofron 1, Kamryn Chapman 1.

Durant Statistics;
Attacks (65-for-81 47 kills): Kamryn Meyer 17-24 14 kills, Aubrin Dittmer 17-23 16 kills, Mallory Warner 16-18 11 kills, Annie Taylor 9-11 4 kills, Paige Werthmann 5-9 2 kills, Ruby Kappeler 1-1.
Assists (48): Ruby Kappeler 46, Hannah Happ 1, Kamryn Meyer 1.
Serving (76-for-86 5 aces): Aubrin Dittmer 17-for-18 3 aces, Paige Werthmann 15-for-17, Annie Taylor 14-for-15 1 ace, Hannah Happ 13-for-13, Ruby Kappeler 10-for-13 1 ace, Kamryn Meyer 7-for-10.
Digs (62): Hannah Happ 16, Aubrin Dittmer 14, Kamryn Meyer 10, Paige Werthmann 10, Ruby Kappeler 8, Annie Taylor 4.