Published: October 06, 2008 10:47 am            

Camanche rebounds to win title

GOOSE LAKE — Mark Cremer said it was nothing new. His Camanche volleyball team just doesn’t seem to like waking up and getting going in Saturday morning tournaments.

It happened again Saturday at the Northeast Invitational and almost kept the Indians from getting out of pool play. They lost their opening match against Fulton, then had to go three games to beat Davenport Assumption in their second outing. But once they won the three-team tiebreaker to move on, there was no stopping the eighth-ranked team in Iowa Class 2A as they won the team title.

“I think the Fulton match was a wakeup call,” Cremer said. “The kids came out a little lackadaisical. The second game, Fulton took control and never gave it back.”

Camanche’s Ashtyn Dixon, who was named to the all-tournament team, said: “It was a tough loss. We knew they were a good team. They played better than we did. We just had to refocus. We knew what had to be done.”

Despite the early win, the Steamers were the odd team out after they, Camanche and Assumption each went 2-1 in pool play. The deciding factor was the third tiebreaker criteria: fewest defensive points allowed: Camanche 84, Assumption 107 and Fulton 115.

“We were playing strong but faltered there in the last games (against Assumption, a 19-21, 22-20, 15-12 loss),” Fulton coach Stacy Germann said. “It’s a hard lesson for the girls to learn. You have to produce every game.”

Once in the semifinals, Camanche made sure there were no letdowns, even despite losing Jenna Paysen to a hand injury in warmups.

Lindsey Nissen delivered two aces as she served eight consecutive points against Northeast, then Chelsea Moore had two aces in a 6-0 run that put Camanche (26-4) in front 14-1 on the way to 25-4 and 25-17 wins.

“One of our big weapons is the serve,” Moore said. “We try to use it to our advantage. We practice it a lot. A lot of us are tennis players, too, and it is kind of like a tennis serve.

The Indians followed up with a 25-12, 25-15 championship victory against Durant/Bennett.

“They’re a rated team, and we haven’t seen a whole lot of rated teams,” said Durant/Bennett coach John Walsh, whose team dropped to 19-9. “We need to see them. They certainly handled us today, but, hopefully, we’ll see them in a second-round match in regionals.”

Northeast coach Sara Deters said she was proud that her team made it to the final four.

“We actually played really well,” she said. “Gregg (Mohl, the Northeast athletic director) said this was probably the first time in a long time we got out of pool play. We’re definitely starting to peak right now. We’ve come together and especially are playing as a team.”



NORTHEAST INVITATIONAL

Pool 1

Team standings — 1. Camanche 2-1; 2. Davenport Assumption 2-1; 3. Fulton 2-1; 4. Maquoketa 0-3. (Tiebreaker determined placings)

Results — Fulton def. Camanche 12-21, 22-20, 15-8; Assumption def. Maquoketa 21-17, 21-11; Camanche def. Assumption 17-21, 21-5, 15-11; Fulton def. Maquoketa 21-14, 21-19; Camanche def. Maquoketa 21-9, 21-15; Assumption def. Fulton 19-21, 22-20, 15-12.

Pool 2

Team standings — 1. Durant/Bennett 3-0; 2. Northeast 2-1; 3. Calamus-Wheatland 1-2; 4. Prince of Peace 0-3.

Results — Northeast def. Prince of Peace 21-7, 21-11; Durant/Bennett def. Calamus-Wheatland 21-11, 21-12; Northeast def. Calamus-Wheatland 21-19, 22-20; Durant/Bennett def. Prince of Peace 22-20, 21-9; Durant/Bennett def. Northeast 21-18, 21-16; Calamus-Wheatland def. Prince of Peace 21-14, 16-21, 15-13.

Semifinals — Camanche def. Northeast 25-4, 25-13; Durant/Bennett def. Assumption 25-10, 25-22.

Championship — Camanche def. Durant/Bennett 25-12, 25-15.

All-tournament team — Shawna Spain (Northeast); Kim Hunstad (Assumption); Melissa Dever (Maquoketa); Ariana Aquilani (Prince of Peace); Leah Goettsch (Calamus-Wheatland); Allison DeWeerdt (Fulton); Ashtyn Dixon, Tiana Bark (Camanche); MaKenzie Meyer, Renee Telsrow (Durant/Bennett).

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Camanche

Kills — Ashtyn Dixon 40, Tiana Bark 26, Chelsea Moore 26, Ashley Gonzalez 19. Blocks — Gonzalez 6, Moore 5, Haley Pulse 5, Dixon 4. Assists — Gonzalez 38, Pulse 37, Lindsey Nissen 20. Ace serves — Moore 13, Pulse 8, Nissen 6. Digs — Dixon 28, Moore 21, Bark 20.

Northeast

Kills — Danika Loots 14, Shawna Spain 14. Blocks — Kelsey McAleer 2, Caitlin Wagemester 2. Assists — Roberta Swanton 33, Kelsey Lorenzen 25. Ace serves — Paige Seeser 4, Swanton 2, Rachel Eberhart 2. Digs — Loots 24, Spain 13, Shalyn Gerlach 11.

Fulton

Kills — Lindsey Renkes 26, Allison DeWeerdt 15, Liz Sanquist 13, Kelsey Munck 12. Blocks — Paige Sanquist 4, Liz Sanquist 4, DeWeerdt 3, Munck 3. Assists — Lydia Schaver 30, DeWeerdt 29. Ace serves — DeWeerdt 5, Munck 4, Kim Rogis 2. Digs — Rogis 29, DeWeerdt 18, Kari Kuehl 14.

        

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