Newton volleyball downs Oskaloosa for first LHC win

OSKALOOSA — It was a banner night for the Newton volleyball team on Tuesday.

Career nights from Chloe Swank, Delaney Woollums and Macy Lampe powered the Cardinals to their first win over Oskaloosa in a best-of-five series since 2013.

Newton got double-doubles from Woollums, Lampe and Isabelle Rawlins and missed only four serves in four sets during a 25-17, 21-25, 28-26, 25-19 road victory over the Indians during a Little Hawkeye Conference matchup.

“It was a great night,” Newton head volleyball coach Heidi Woollums said. “We fought the entire match and everyone contributed. They played to their ability level across the board and that makes such a difference.”

Newton rallied from early holes to win the final two sets. It was the Cardinals’ first conference triumph of the season.

The key to the opening set was Newton’s incredible defense. Oskaloosa had trouble putting the ball down on the Cardinals’ side of the floor and a fast start by the visitors gave them early momentum.

Newton led 4-1 and 6-2 before a kill by Lampe pushed the advantage to 8-3. Lampe and Delaney Woollums kept the margin at five or more with a combined six kills.

The lead grew to seven at 21-14 and 22-15 after a pair of Lampe kills and Delaney Woollums put down another blast to end the set.

“The scrappier a team plays the harder it is to not get in your head,” Coach Woollums said about the Cardinals’ tough defense. “The momentum shift can happen set to set.”

Oskaloosa grabbed a little momentum with a second-set victory.

The Indians jumped out to a 4-1 lead, but an ace by Delaney Woollums and a kill by Lampe pulled the Cardinals even at 7-all.

But a kill by Gracie DeRonde ended a 3-0 Oskaloosa run and the hosts maintained a small lead until Newton called timeout down 20-14.

Delaney Woollums and Lampe helped the Cardinals rally back and the deficit got to 21-20 before the Indians scored four of the final five points to even the match. DeRonde had three kills during that stretch.

Newton (10-12, 1-4 in the conference) edged Oskaloosa in the third set despite trailing by as many as seven. The Indians led 5-1, 10-4 and 14-7 before the Cardinals rallied behind Lampe and Addie Ratcliff. The duo put down a combined seven kills down the stretch.

Ratcliff had five kills in the match and at least three came in the third set. The final two tied the set at 18-all and 20-all. A tip kill by Lampe evened the game at 21-all.

“(Ratcliff) came in clutch and made plays at critical times,” Coach Woollums said. “I was so dang proud of her play tonight. She can do that every night. I have no doubt she will only continue to grow in her play.”

It was back-and-forth from that point on. Oskaloosa led 23-22 and 24-23 and the set was tied eight times before Newton won it in extra points.

The Cardinals rallied again in the fourth set. Two aces and a tip kill by DeRonde helped Oskaloosa to a 5-0 lead, and another DeRonde blast forced a Newton timeout at 9-3.

The Indians (6-15, 0-5) continued to lead, but the Cardinals closed the gap to 14-12 following back-to-back kills by Delaney Woollums.

Consecutive kills again by Delaney Woollums, including one that went through the block of 6-foot-3 Dasia Foster, kept the deficit at two before a back-row kill by Lampe, two tip kills from Rawlins, a Swank ace and another blast from Delaney Woollums completed a 7-0 run that put Newton in front 19-16.

That forced another Oskaloosa timeout, but the Indians never got closer than two the rest of the way.

A four-serve run from Sloan Brodersen and two more kills from Lampe helped the Cardinals complete the victory.

Rawlins’ double-double featured a season-best 50 assists, 14 digs, three kills and two aces and she was 20-of-20 in serves.

Delaney Woollums posted a career-best 23 kills and added 17 digs and two aces. She was 17-of-17 in serves and her kill efficiency was .327. Lampe put down a career-high 24 kills and chipped in 13 digs and she was 9-of-10 in serves with a kill efficiency of .267.

The Cardinals’ hitting duo combined for 47 of the team’s 59 kills.

“We rely heavily on our outsides,” Coach Woollums said. “I challenged both of them this week to not only put the ball down but dig Osky’s hitters up. They rose to the occasion.”

Swank contributed a career-best 44 digs, Ratcliff posted five kills and three digs and Brodersen collected seven digs.

“No one person had to shoulder the burden tonight,” Coach Woollums said. “(Swank) was a defensive beast, (Woollums) and (Lampe) did exactly what we need out of them both offensively and defensively and (Rawlins) was her consistent self and made excellent choices in distributing the ball.

“(Brodersen) serve received the best she has all season and played up tips that would have made the difference for Oskaloosa had they dropped.”

Ratcliff’s kill efficiency was .250 and Swank was 19-of-19 in serves. Emersyn Gross had three kills and Addison Hook and Lola Rivera each tallied three digs.

The Cardinals were 93-of-97 in serves with seven aces. Hook served 10-of-11 and Newton’s kill efficiency was .250.

Notes: The win was Newton’s second straight against Oskaloosa. The Cardinals defeated the Indians 2-0 in last year’s conference tournament. … Swank’s school record for career digs has climbed to 988. The 287 digs she’s posted this fall are a career best. … Delaney Woollums now has a career-most 202 kills this season.