Glenwood sweeps Winterset in postseason opener

“On to the next.”

Glenwood volleyball coach Chelsey Hirt and her team’s celebration was decidedly low key following its 25-18, 25-12, 25-19 win over Winterset in the Class 4A, Region 2 semifinals Thursday.

That’s because the Class 4A, No. 4 ranked Rams (31-2) have more matches on their mind.

“We’re excited to get this one,” Hirt added after the game. “But we move on to the next one. Our goal is state.”

Following the Rams’ sweep of Winterset, the Rams advance to meet Council Bluffs Lewis Central (19-6) in the regional championship Tuesday night in Glenwood with a bid to the state tournament on the line. The match is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Against Winterset, Hirt said her team didn’t get off the start they wanted. They trailed 5-1 to open then rallied off nine of the next 11 points to take a commanding lead. Three straight ace serves by Grace Boles jumped started the Rams’ play, Hirt said.

“I felt like we started a little timid and our nerves were definitely getting the bet of us at the beginning,” Hirt said. “But once we got those three aces from Grace that set the tone for the rest of the match.”

Hirt said she felt like her team played its best in set two – getting out to a 13-4 lead early  – but then got a little lackadaisical in set three, allowing the Huskies to trim a 23-14 lead to 23-18 before the Rams put them away.

The Rams’ defense was sharp all night (54 digs) and while they notched 11 ace serves Hirt didn’t like her team’s 11 serving errors. She did feel, however, her team got better as the night went on.

“We really clicked in set two and I think we got a little too comfortable in set three and you saw they got some points to come back but we finished it off,” she said. “We were confident but we need to keep our energy up.”

Coming off just the second loss of the season 11 days ago to Lewis Central, Hirt was glad to see her team put that match in their rear view mirror.

“That loss was a tough one,” she said. Tournaments can kind of be a different story for our Rams but when it comes to match night and post-season, they’re going to give 100-percent.”

Elle Scarborough did a little bit of everything for the Rams on the night. She led the way with 12 kills on offense and added 14 digs on defense. Brynlee Arnold added nine kills and Coryl Matheny five.

Grace Boles – in addition to her four aces – had 29 set assists.

The home match was the first for Glenwood with all Ram players wearing and competing in masks. It’s a precaution Hirt adopted in the regular-season closing tournament and the Rams are going to stick with it.

“We started that last Saturday as COVID cases are increasing and we want to take every precaution we can to keep playing,” Hirt said. “If we are going to be done playing it will be because we lose not because of COVID.”