Wolverines cap 25-win regular season

The East Mills volleyball team capped its regular season with a dominating 25-7, 25-9, 25-2 victory over Heartland Christian and set a new school record for wins in a season Thursday in Malvern.

The Class 1A, No. 8 ranked Wolverines finished with a regular season record of 25-5 (5-2 in the Corner Conference) for the most wins in school history. This year’s team broke the record of 24 wins established by last year’s state tournament qualifying squad.

East Mills hit a blistering .509 on the attack and racked 37 kills in the win.

“We played really well tonight and had excellent ball control,” said East Mills coach Connie Blank.

Alex Knop led the way with 15 kills and Rachel Drake added nine.

Dezirae Drake keyed the offense with 26 set assists.

The Wolverines open post-season play Oct. 22 at home against the winner of Griswold and Lenox. The match will begin at 7 p.m.

East Mills 16-28-25-25
Stanton 25-26-23-23

East Mills bounced back from a first set loss to win the next three and survive a road challenge at Stanton with a 16-25, 28-26, 25-23, 25-23 victory in Corner Conference volleyball last Tuesday.

“Stanton came out ready to play and we did not in the first set,” said East Mills coach Connie Blank. “But we kept battling through the match to finish with a win.  Our blocking really came on strong in the fourth set and helped us defensively.  This was a good match for us to be pushed and to know how to finish.”

The Class 1A, No. 8 ranked Wolverines recorded 40 kills for a kill efficiency of .111. Alex Knop led the attack with 23 kills. She also added 18 digs and served 10-of-12 on the night.

Dezirae Drake dished up 18 assists and Lexi Ungry 13. Drake added 16 digs.

The Viqueens (12-21 overall, 4-3 in the conference) hit .113 as team with 37 kills. Tara Peterson had a team-high 11 kills.