Colfax-Mingo volleyball wins twice at home tournament

COLFAX — The Colfax-Mingo volleyball team opened its season with a split of its four matches during the annual Tigerhawk Volleyball Invitational on Saturday.

Colfax-Mingo began its day with a win over Jasper County rival Baxter and also scored a sweep against Murray, but the Tigerhawks lost to Coon Rapids-Bayard before falling to GMG in the semifinals.

Baxter swept Murray in pool play but lost to East Marshall despite claiming the first set. The Bolts also lost to Coon-Rapids Bayard.

The tournament expanded from four to eight teams this season. One pool featured Colfax-Mingo, Baxter, Murray and Coon Rapids-Bayard, while the other included Nodaway Valley, East Marshall, Iowa Valley and GMG.

Coon-Rapids Bayard downed Iowa Valley in the semifinals and then defeated GMG in the championship match. East Marshall defeated Baxter in the matchup of third-place teams.

Colfax-Mingo opened its day with a 21-12, 14-21, 15-9 win over Baxter.

Back-to-back aces by Trinity Smith made it 8-4 in the first set. An ace by Kaylee Collins pushed the margin to 11-5 and the Tigerhawks eventually scored six straight to go in front 15-5.

A tip kill by Smith made it 18-9 and Britney Keeney’s kill extended the lead to 20-10. Dakota Allen’s kill gave C-M the match lead.

The Bolts (1-5) jumped out to a 4-0 and 7-1 lead in the second set. Kills by Kendall Brummel and Abbie Meyer led the early charge and the lead stayed at six before Smith closed the gap to 11-9 following a pair of kills and an ace.

Colfax-Mingo got its deficit to 12-11, but kills from Denver Sulzle and Meyer and an ace from Caydence Sulzle pushed the margin back to four.

An ace by Kaylyn Krampe kept Baxter’s advantage at four and Meyer finished off the set win with back-to-back aces and a kill.

The third set belonged to Colfax-Mingo. The Tigerhawks forced a Baxter timeout after jumping out to a 7-1 lead. That stretch included an ace by Katelyn Steenhoek, a kill by Keeney, a block by Smith, a service error and a net violation.

The Tigerhawks never trailed by fewer than four the rest of the way. A tip kill and consecutive aces by Smith pushed the C-M lead to 13-6 and two service errors by the Bolts ended the match.

Smith led the Tigerhawks (2-2) with seven kills and five aces, while Cadence Linn added two kills and five digs.

Steenhoek dished out 11 assists, Keeney registered three kills and two blocks and Collins tallied five digs. Allen collected three digs and Victoria Woods and Grace Hunsberger each put down two kills.

The Tigerhawks were 42-of-50 in serves with seven aces. They had a kill efficiency of .188. Collins served 9-of-9 and Smith was 9-of-10.

Keeney had two kills, two digs and five aces in Colfax-Mingo’s 21-17, 21-14 win over Murray. Smith also had four kills and five digs and Steenhoek contributed seven assists and two aces.

Collins finished with six digs and three aces and Allen had two digs. The Tigerhawks were 35-of-41 in serves with 12 aces. Steenhoek served 9-of-9.

In Colfax-Mingo’s 21-17, 21-19 loss to Coon Rapids-Bayard, Smith finished with five kills and eight digs and Steenhoek dished out 11 assists and collected four digs.

Collins posted six digs and two aces, Hunsberger put down four kills and Keeney chipped in three kills. Linn contributed five digs.

Colfax-Mingo was 35-of-37 in serves with four aces and had a kill efficiency of .167. Collins was a perfect 8-of-8 in serves.

Malia Clayburg led CR-B (7-0) with 13 kills and Amelia Cook delivered 16 assists. The Crusaders had a kill efficiency of .255 with Clayburg posting a .476.

In the 21-16, 21-14 semifinal loss to GMG, Colfax-Mingo was led by Steenhoek, who had 13 assists, two kills and three digs. Smith added five kills, five digs and two blocks.

Keeney chipped in three kills and two digs, Collins collected five digs and Hunsberger put down three kills. Linn and Allen both tallied three digs.

The Tigerhawks were 26-of-31 in serves and had a kill efficiency of .107.

GMG (4-1) got nine assists and four kills from Hadlee Hempy and the Wolverines produced a kill efficiency of .318.

Baxter lost to Coon Rapids-Bayard 21-18, 21-8. Clayburg finished with seven kills and nine digs, Anna Hart chipped in 10 digs and Cook dished out 14 assists.

The Bolts won the opening set 21-15 against East Marshall but lost 21-16, 15-10 in the final two sets.

Baxter’s statistics from each match were unavailable at press time.