HCHS volleyball season ends in sweep at LC

 COUNCIL BLUFFS (Oct. 29) -- By the time Zophi Hendricks spiked Harlan Community’s first kill on Tuesday, the sixth-ranked Lewis Central volleyball team had already established a 10-3 advantage.
 It was that kind of night for the Cyclones, who never held the lead in a season-ending Class 4A, Region 2 semifinal loss to the Titans.
 Lewis Central (28-6) took control of each set with early leads of 5-0, 11-3 and 10-5 and finished off HCHS 25-17, 25-14, 25-19 to advance to Monday’s regional final against Glenwood (29-12).
 Titan senior Megan Witte nearly matched Harlan’s team total with her 18 kills and senior Delaney Esterling had eight kills and five ace serves.
 The Cyclones, who were also swept by LC during the regular season, finished 12-27 overall.
 “That’s a good team,” said HCHS head coach Willie Baughman. “They’ve got the two-headed monster [Witte and Esterling] and every once in a while you get somebody else to chip in; then you’ve got good hard serves and it’s tough.”
 The Cyclones were at their most competitive in set three, pulling within 13-12 on Haley Manz’s third ace of the night. Baughman said he was proud of the team’s effort right down to the end, singling out a late point in which Elise Juhl made a great dig and Manz hustled toward the bench to keep the ball in play.
 Baughman added: “We’ve had our fair share of ups and downs and I said to them that it’s hard to come to practice every day - especially when you’re not winning as much as we were expecting - and keep competing, and they did. They tried to get better, and I thought we did throughout the year. We just didn’t have enough.”
 HCHS will lose six seniors to graduation off this year’s squad in Manz, Elise Juhl, Dani Arkfeld, Ashley Sonderman, Chloe Hays and Lindsey Andersen, who missed the season while recovering from knee surgery. By the same token, Baughman said he is excited about the team’s returning nucleus for next season, which includes the Cyclones’ three kill leaders from 2019 (Hendricks, Macie Leinen and Lauren Andersen) and dig leader Ashley Hall.

Lewis Central 25-25-25, HCHS 17-14-19
Harlan Community Stat Leaders
 Serving: 41/51 (80.4%), 4 aces -- Haley Manz 11/13, 3 aces; Jocelyn Cheek 8/8; Zophi Hendricks 6/7. Attacks: 96/102, 21 kills, .147 kill eff. -- Hendricks 33/35, 11 kills (.257); Macie Leinen 16/17, 5 kills (.235); Lauren Andersen 12/12, 3 kills (.250); Delaney Wegner 11/11, 2 kills (.182). Assists: 21 -- Manz 20. Blocks: 2 -- Manz 1, Andersen 1. Digs: 61 -- Hall 25, Hendricks 9, Manz 8, Juhl 7, Leinen 6. Serve Receive Average: 2.44/3.00 (64 att.) -- Leinen 2.58 (12), Hall 2.56 (25), Juhl 2.38 (16).

Class 4A, Region 2 Volleyball Tournament
First Round Scores • Wednesday, October 23
Harlan Community 3, ADM 2 (21-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-14, 15-13)
Norwalk 3, Winterset 1 (25-10, 25-17, 22-25, 25-16)
Semifinal Scores • Tuesday, October 29
Lewis Central 3, Harlan Community 0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-19)
Glenwood 3, Norwalk 1 (11-25, 25-16, 25-18, 25-16)
Regional Final • Monday, November 4
Glenwood (29-12) at #6-ranked Lewis Central (28-6)