Glenwood sweeps Denison, notches eighth straight victory

With no games on the schedule until Oct. 5, Glenwood volleyball coach Chelsey Hirt hoped her team would go into its mid-season break on a high note last Tuesday night.

The coach got her wish.

The Class 4A, No. 3 ranked Rams played a complete game and picked up their eighth straight win of the season with a 25-17, 25-16, 25-20 victory over Denison in Hawkeye 10 Conference volleyball.

Glenwood got off to a quick 6-1 lead in the first set against the Monarchs (9-8 overall, 3-3 in the conference) and that pace set the tone for the rest of the match, Hirt said.

“We definitely started off strong, we focused on that and it really set the tempo for playing consistently and playing together,” she said. “The girls came out, and Denison made a few errors on their end which obviously helped us, but I felt like we were still bringing the heat.”

The Ram offense was dominant at times. They finished with 42 kills and hit .393 as team. Elle Scarborough led the way with 15 kills and Brynlee Arnold added 10. Coryl Matheny pitched in six and Abby Hughes five.

But as good as the Rams’ offense was, their defense might have been better. The Monarch’s top two hitters, Hannah Neemann and

Paige Anderson combined for 20 kills but the rest of the lineup had just six kills combined as they hit .150 as a team.
Hirt thought her backrow was really the difference.

“Denison has some hitters, they have some fire power, Neemann can put a ball on the floor and I felt like our back row on top of it and I was really pleased with our defense. They did everything they could to keep balls alive. They worked really well together, it looked fun and the communication was there. It was a good to see them come out and be ready to play on the road.”

Kelly Embray had 14 digs and Delaney Holeton 11.

Glenwood will next be in action Oct. 5 at Kuemper Catholic.
Hirt wasn’t crazy about the dead week in her schedule when she first saw it but the idea has grown on her.

“It can help us to fine tune what we’re going to work on for the next week and a half,” she said. “We can hone in on maybe going back to some fundamental things and get ready to play again because that week we get back, we have a ton of volleyball. We need to make sure we’re healthy, ready to roll and our mindset is fresh. I’m kind of looking forward to this chance to refresh and move forward.”