Marshalltown volleyball turns away Des Moines Lincoln in regional opener
With barely a practice to prepare a new lineup or two, the Marshalltown volleyball team took the court for its Class 5A regional opener.
Injuries and surgeries forced the Bobcats into unfamiliar territory for Tuesday’s Region 6 first-round pairing with Des Moines Lincoln, but MHS escaped otherwise unscathed.
Bella Avise had seven of her team-leading 11 kills in the fourth and final set to help Marshalltown move into the regional semifinals with a 3-1 victory over Lincoln — 25-21, 16-25, 25-15, 25-14 — in the Bobcats’ final home volleyball match this season.
Avise played only half rotation for the first two sets as the Bobcats (15-19) tried their luck with a new-look lineup. Injuries and surgeries forced Marshalltown to have to adjust on the fly after Saturday’s Iowa Alliance Conference Gold Tournament knocked MHS libero Gianna Baune out of action with a concussion. Middle hitter Kendall Brummel was undergoing jaw surgery, too, so Marshalltown head coach Jen O’Neal took to the drawing board for Tuesday’s postseason opener.
The end result was a split decision for the first new lineup and a unanimous decision for the second attempt.
“So really, we had one night to prepare with a brand new lineup,” O’Neal said. “We tried two different lineups tonight just to see what would be successful. I did say after the game we’ve got a lot of work to do to work out some kinks, but it is what it is and we have to just push forward and make sure we’re always playing together. I think that’s the biggest thing.”
The Bobcats did that in the first set but fell apart during the second, surrendering an eight-point Lincoln spurt that put MHS in an insurmountable hole.
Marshalltown shifted gears for the third set and found the combination that worked the best, and Lincoln (6-23) couldn’t match the Bobcats’ play the rest of the way.
Avise’s return to the front row played a pivotal role as the junior outside hitter tallied all of her team-high 11 kills in the last two sets.
“I felt really good,” she said. “I felt more confident going up there, and the girls helped me through it.
“I felt like I had to step up and really get my groove back.”
The team’s third-leading attacker for the season, Avise also had three service aces to help the Bobcats put away the Railsplitters. After Morgan Hilderbrand served up a 6-0 run with an ace and a pair of Avise kills, Avise served up her own six-point surge to put Marshalltown on top 19-8.
Avise scored the Bobcats’ last two points with kills to complete the first-round contest.
“She has also been passing really well, which is why we had her in the back row the first two sets, but she knew it was game on,” O’Neal said of Avise. “I thought she really stepped up and did a great job.”
Freshman Brooklyn Smith swung from the outside for the first two sets and finished with eight kills, while Kinsley Bowie finished with seven. Harper Wilson contributed four kills and a team-leading two blocks, while Lorelai Villarreal pitched in with two kills.
Junior setter Lauren O’Neal added 32 assists after having reached the 500 career assists plateau during Saturday’s Alliance tournament.
Anela “Nelly” Villarreal closed the match with a team-leading 22 digs, serving as libero for the final two sets, and Hilderbrand added eight digs.
“Yeah, I think we were better with the second lineup and we were just trying harder and had more energy,” said Avise. “We were kinda scared to be without a libero, but I think Nelly really stepped up.”
Avise was 17-for-17 serving with three aces, while Bowie was 16-of-17 with two aces. Hilderbrand went 13-for-13 with an ace, Nelly was 12-for-12, and O’Neal was 10-for-11. The Bobcats had nine service faults to their seven aces.
“After the first set, I thought ‘this is going to work,’ and then our second set we started making mistake after mistake after mistake,” coach O’Neal said. “We were just letting balls drop that we normally don’t, we missed a few serves — I thought that we had settled in and then it just took a turn.
“I was really happy with the way the second lineup went. I’m just really proud of Nelly stepping up and taking on that (libero) role.”
Jumi Kayode led Des Moines Lincoln with a match-high 12 kills as well as three aces, Carmen Garth added six kills and Mya Garth had four.
Marshalltown will get another night of practice before traveling to face sixth-ranked Ankeny (25-8) in Thursday’s regional semifinals. Waterloo West (16-14) hosts No. 14 Cedar Rapids Kennedy (24-17) on the other half of the bracket.
“We will get really focused tomorrow night on those things that we really need to hone in on in order to try and be successful at Ankeny,” coach O’Neal said. “I don’t know, we might have something completely different on Thursday. But everyone is just really willing to do whatever they need to for the team, and I think that’s what makes this team really special.”
