Lady Savages take one of two at HLV

The Sigourney volleyball team faced two different teams on October 8 when they traveled to HLV for the initial round of the SICL tournament. They started off by playing BGM, whom they had played just a couple weeks prior and swept them then ended up playing host HLV. They played in some close sets but wound up getting swept by the Warriors.

Sigourney kept things close early on with some help from multiple servers, along with some strong play at the net. Just past the midway point in the opening set, the Lady Savages extended their lead 21-14, which led to a timeout from BGM with hopes of disrupting Sigourney’s momentum. It didn’t work as Sigourney won four of the next five points by playing aggressive on the floor, taking the first set 25-15.

The Lady Savages followed up that win by getting some early kills and blocks at the net to go up 8-2 early in the second set. BGM managed to put together a rally to get within a couple but Sigourney would then respond with some aggressive kills at the net. BGM had another rally to get them within two points late in the set, leading to a timeout for Sigourney. Coming out of the timeout, the Lady Savages scored four of the next seven points to take set two in a narrow 25-22 win.

“We just focused on playing our game against BGM, having just played them a couple weeks ago,” Sigourney coach Chris Carter said. “It gave us a chance to focus on the fundamentals and do the little things, and we did that.”

With a sweep still a major possibility, the Lady Savages kept their foot on the pedal, getting out to another early lead. BGM would close the gap to get within three before Sigourney had a significant rally to put them up 17-9, leading to a BGM timeout. With their last chance to avoid a sweep, BGM put up a valiant effort with a couple long rallies but Sigourney kept itself ahead. The Lady Savages finally ended BGM’s run and closed the game out with a 25-19 win, sweeping BGM in the process.

“I felt like Kaylee played really well, she had more blocks than she had in any single match this year,” Carter said. “There were different moments where our passers did well. Playing BGM first gave us an advantage to get some of the kinks out and build up some confidence before playing HLV.”

The Lady Savages racked up a whopping 13 blocked shots in the match, including seven solo blocks. Kaylee Weber contributed with seven blocks, four solo blocks and Sloane Magill also had three blocks. Heidi Clarahan and Makenna Hammes made up for the other three team blocks. Magill led the team with 15 digs and nine kills while Savhannah White had a team-high 19 assists. Giulia Molinari put together a nice stat line consisting of seven digs, six kills, two assists and one ace off 14-18 from the service line.

Sigourney would face some tough sledding against HLV, in what would end up as a sweep. The Lady Savages found themselves down seven early in the first set but went on to make a furious rally with Ryleigh Leonard giving them a good start with well placed serves. Some great attacks at the net, along with some overpowered kill shots from HLV, allowed Sigourney to tie the score at 14 apiece, leading to a timeout by HLV. From there it was a back and forth battle with both teams hoping to get the early advantage. The effort came up short for the gold and black as HLV managed to take the first set 25-19.

The trend of being in a hole early on continued for Sigourney as HLV took the first four points to open the second set. Sigourney would rally and cap off the run to go up 11-8, then extended their lead to go up 18-13, leading to a timeout for HLV. Unfortunately for Sigourney, that huge momentum shift wouldn’t last long enough as HLV rattled off five straight points to tie the set, resulting in a quick timeout by Sigourney to regroup and refocus. The Lady Savages would keep it close again but couldn’t get over the hurdle, as HLV capped off their comeback to take set two 25-21.

“Our serve receive wasn’t great at moments, but I felt like defensively we were moving and passing. They were getting on the floor and that’s something we’ve wanted to see all year,” Carter said. “We were just playing volleyball and not overthinking it. I think they felt they were doing good things and they were enjoying it and had fun. Now the challenge is to continue doing that.”

Sigourney battled in the decisive third set but didn’t get the needed hold of momentum to spark a comeback. After falling behind 0-6 to start the set, Sigourney put together a rally to close the gap but HLV continued to hold the lead. Some free balls and kills helped the hosts get a seven-point lead late, resulting in a timeout called by Sigourney. The Lady Savages put together one more run to give themselves a fighting chance but ended up short in a 17-25 loss.

“After you’ve lost those first two, it’s hard to come out and take charge in the third game, so we may have been deflated a bit,” Carter said. “There was definitely a momentum swing after that second set.”

Magill had another good game up front, leading with eight kills and tied with 12 digs and one ace. Clarahan and Weber had three kills apiece while Hammes, Molinari and White combined for six other kills. Leonard and Molinari had 12 digs apiece and Madelynn Hornback chipped in with 11 more digs and had the most serve attempts, going 17 of 18 with one ace.

“We talked in the locker room about remembering how we played here and taking it to the next level,” Carter said. “We’re going to focus on some little things and get ready mentally. It’ll be at our place and we’ll have a good crowd to help us out.”

The Lady Savages would go on to host one portion of the SICL quads tournament on October 11, sweeping Colfax-Mingo to set themselves up with a Championship spot against Lynnville-Sully. Sigourney lost a close first set to Lynnville-Sully and would end up going down in a sweep.

Sigourney played in another “do or die” situation when they traveled to Winfield Mt. Union to face WMU in Regional action, with the winner to face either Tri-County or Iowa Mennonite on October 22 at WMU.