Central fizzles in league volleyball finale
Central College
WAVERLY—Central College was unable to accelerate its momentum from an opening set win, suffering a 21-25, 25-12, 25-17, 25-22 volleyball setback to Wartburg College Wednesday night.
In their last regular season Iowa Conference matchup, the Dutch (22-10 overall, 4-4 conference) started off strong hitting .387 in the first set.
“We had very solid ball control in the first set,” coach Kent Clayberg said. “We weren’t overwhelming offensively but neither team was really in-system and we felt like we had control of the game.”
But the Knights (22-10 overall, 7-1 conference) flustered the Dutch, limiting Central to hitting .107 for the match.
“Our ball control went away,” Clayberg said. “We crippled ourselves with errors and made it harder for ourselves than it had to be.”
Senior libero Chelsea Grieger (Pella) racked up a match-best 30 digs. It’s her eighth match this season with thirty-plus digs.
“Chelsea was very strong tonight,” Clayberg said. “We gave her a lot of responsibility and she covered a lot of ground.”
Middle hitters Kiley Meyers (senior, Grundy Center) and Ashley Pedersen (junior, Humboldt) each had seven kills while right-side hitter Caitlin Kouba (senior, Dubuque, Wahlert HS) and outside hitter Amy Golly (senior, Ankeny) each had six kills. Pedersen also recorded three blocks. Setter Maggie Snyder (senior, Alexandria, Minn., Jefferson HS) had 20 assists.
The match wraps up the regular season schedule, but Central is guaranteed a spot in the six-team league tournament beginning Nov. 1. Instead of a Friday-Saturday tournament format, the tournament will be played on three separate dates throughout the week. The top two seeds receive a first-round bye while the No. 3 and 4 seeds play host to first-round games. Pairings will be determined later this week.
