Newton volleyball suffers three-set loss to Pella Christian

The biggest lead for either team in the Little Hawkeye Conference volleyball match between Newton and Pella Christian was five points.

But the Eagles earned the sweep over the Cardinals due to 16 aces and a slightly better kill efficiency on Tuesday.

Pella Christian fought off set point in game one to edge Newton 26-24 and then kept its momentum in the final two sets and won 25-22, 25-21.

There were 12 ties in the opening set. Kills by Lola Rivera and Macy Lampe gave the Cardinals narrow leads early and another Lampe blast pushed the margin to 10-7.

“Macy had some great swings,” Newton head volleyball coach Heidi Woollums said. “She has handled the transition well, and I know she will only continue to grow throughout the season.”

That was either team’s biggest advantage in the set. Newton led by three again later when it scored three straight after a 12-all tie.

Chloe Huisman, who finished with 14 kills, six digs and five aces for the Eagles, kept the visitors in the set with two kills and one ace over the course of a four-point stretch.

The set saw ties at 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24. Newton led 24-23 before the Eagles scored the final three points to grab a lead in the match.

Pella Christian (8-3, 1-1 in the conference) maintained its momentum in the second set. The Eagles jumped out to a 3-0 lead and never trailed.

The Cardinals got within 9-8 and then Sloan Brodersen’s ace tied the set at 12-all.

But the Eagles used a 4-0 run to grab another advantage. A Huisman kill was sandwiched between two Faith Kacmarynski aces, but Lampe delivered a kill and an ace to close the Cardinal gap to 16-14.

Newton (5-5, 0-2) didn’t get back within two until Lainey Vander Schel’s ace trimmed the deficit to 22-20. A service error and two-touch violation by Pella Christian were the only other two points Newton scored the rest of the way and a Cardinal service error gave the Eagles a 2-0 surplus in the match.

Lampe opened the third set with an ace and Newton led 2-0 and 4-2. Rivera put down a kill and Addison Hook served up an ace to give the Cardinals a 6-5 advantage.

Pella Christian regained the lead with three straight points thanks in part to back-to-back aces from Addie Van Arendonk. The lead grew to 10-7 and 12-10 before back-to-back kills from Addie Ratcliff and Delaney Woollums tied the set at 12-all.

“Delaney is going to have a target on her back and teams are going to watch her,” Coach Woollums said. “She did a good job of keeping pressure on them. I know she wished she could have put a few more down, but her teammates stepped up and helped take the pressure off her.”

A 3-0 run from the Eagles put them back in front for good. Trailing 21-17, Newton responded to a timeout with three straight points, including a Lampe kill and a Brodersen ace.

Pella Christian responded by scoring four of the next five points to win the set and the match.

Isabelle Rawlins had 21 assists and seven digs for the Cardinals. Woollums tallied nine kills and eight digs, Lampe finished with eight kills, four digs and two aces and Brodersen chipped in a career-best 15 digs and two aces.

Brodersen made her first career start at libero as regular starter Chloe Swank missed the match due to a concussion.

“Sloan stepped up and played confidently,” Coach Woollums said. “Lola and Emmy put down balls when we need them to. Our middles got their hands on way more things than they have all season, which takes pressure off everyone else. We need them to block.”

Rivera and Emersyn Gross both had two kills and two blocks and Ratcliff put down two kills.

The Cardinals were 63-of-68 in serves with six aces. Lampe served 14-of-14, Rawlins finished 13-13 and Hook was 12-of-12.

Newton had a kill efficiency of .189, but Woollums and Lampe were both at .200 or better.

Kacmarynski added 16 digs and six aces for the Eagles, who had a kill efficiency of .208. Huisman’s kill efficiency was .400.

The Eagles won the match despite 19 service errors. They missed at least six serves in all three sets but had a 16-6 advantage in aces.