Baxter volleyball falls to pair of conference foes

BAXTER — The emotions of Senior Night helped the Baxter volleyball team start strong against GMG on Thursday night.

But the Wolverines were simply too tough in the end during a 25-18, 25-5, 25-10 victory against the Bolts during Iowa Star Conference South Division action.

“One thing we need to focus on and has to get better is our serve receive,” Baxter head volleyball coach Jordynn Wesselink said. “I think that’s what killed us in the second and third sets.”

GMG spoiled Senior Night for Abbie Meyer, Adison Bonney, Karlee Koehler and Hannah Huffaker.

Bonney helped the Bolts jump out to an early 5-3 lead in the opening set, but GMG rallied to go up 11-6.

Meyer’s second kill of the frame came out of a Baxter timeout. Bonney put down a pair of kills later that kept the Bolts close and an ace by Koehler trimmed the Wolverines’ margin to 18-16.

That’s as close as the hosts would get as GMG outscored the Bolts 7-2 the rest of the way.

“A part of that first set going well was because of the energy we brought due to Senior Night,” Wesselink said. “It’s not our last home game but it’s our last conference home game. They were just ready to rock and roll. They had a lot of energy and adrenaline that carried us in the first set.”

GMG (16-8, 5-2 in the conference) led the second set 5-1, 12-3 and 16-4 before going on to win by 20. The Wolverines used a pair of 5-0 runs, a 6-0 spurt and a 7-0 burst to go up 2-0 in the match.

The Bolts were in it early in the third game. Kendall Brummel’s kill closed the visitor’s gap to 10-7, but the Wolverines scored the next nine to pull away for good.

Huffaker’s push kill to the corner ended the run, but GMG finished off the win with a 6-1 spurt to cap the victory.

“We just couldn’t set up an offense. When we did, we were sporadic and everywhere and sent a free ball over that they hit it right back at us,” Wesselink said. “You can’t run a good offense if you can’t pass the ball. That’s what it comes down to. We’ll work on the basics of passing, starting tomorrow. We need to nail that down before a potential rematch.”

The regional pairings were released before the matchup and the two teams could face off again in the second round if the Bolts can down Colo-NESCO at home in the opening round.

Meyer led the Bolts (7-10, 4-3) with six kills and 14 digs, Bonney had three assists, six kills and seven digs and Koehler added 10 assists and five digs.

“They are my babies. They were sophomores when I first started coaching,” Wesselink said about the senior class. “They’ve progressed so much since that season. Most of them were very raw, and to be where they are now in a bigger varsity role means a lot to me. They played their hearts out and left it all on the court.”

Caydence Sulzle finished with 22 assists, Brummel tallied two kills and three digs and Danika Flora contributed two digs.

The Bolts were 27-of-35 in serves with two aces. Lexi Dart served 6-of-7. The team had a negative kill efficiency.

North Tama 3, Baxter 0

TRAER — Class 1A No. 7 North Tama had 16 more aces, a surplus of 24 kills and dominated at the net during its 25-9, 25-12, 25-5 win over Baxter on Tuesday.

The Bolts missed just two serves but had only three aces and six kills and tallied a negative kill efficiency.

Bonney led the Bolts with two assists, three kills and two digs, Sulzle added nine digs and Meyer chipped in two digs and two aces. Kaylyn Krampe contributed three digs.

The Bolts were 21-of-23 in serves with Krampe going 6-of-6.

North Tama (19-15, 6-1) got 18 assists, five digs and eight aces from Zoey Rausch and Kruiz Ewoldt put down 13 kills.

The Redhawks, who won on Senior Night, served up 19 aces, registered 30 kills and had a kill efficiency of .442.