FREDONIA — The 2023 volleyball season came crashing down in similar fashion for Iola High’s and Humboldt High’s squads Saturday.
Both seemed to have the momentum squarely on their side in their respective matches, only to see cold starts in their third-set tiebreakers spell doom.
Iola’s season ended in the Class 3A Substate Quarterfinals, falling to Prairie View, 25-18, 10-25 and 25-13.
“We just couldn’t adjust to their serves,” Iola head coach Amanda Holman said.
The third set was decided almost as soon as it began. Holman burned through both of her timeouts during Prairie View’s 10-0 run to open the set.
Iola never closed to within nine points from there.
“We reverted back to some of the mistakes we’d made before we had our great run from the middle to the end of the season,” Holman said.
She implored her players to use the stinging disappointment as fuel for next season.
“I’m glad they’re not OK” with the outcome, Holman said. “You don’t want to feel like this again.”
Iola struggled in the first set as well, in part because of the raucous atmosphere inside the Fredonia High School gymnasium.
“I think the noise got to them,” Holman said, as the Buffalos seized control midway through the set to win by seven.
But the tone changed dramatically in the second set. Iola raced out of the gates to force a timeout with a 6-1 lead, primarily by controlling the net.
“We served aggressively, and the girls did a great job with their blocking,” Holman said.
Iola continued its torrid play after the timeout. A pair of Reese Curry kills put the Mustangs ahead 14-3.
But the momentum stalled in the third set, and with it, Iola’s season came to a disappointing conclusion at 22-13.
Curry led the Mustangs at the net with nine kills while Alana Mader had seven kills and five blocks. Jackie Fager added six kills. Kaysin Crusinbery chipped in with four blocks. Curry, Fager and Lily Lohman had three blocks each.
