North Mahaska allied from a first set loss Oct. 11 to defeat Sigourney 17-25, 24-21, 25-21, 25-21 to advance to the gold round of the South Iowa Cedar League volleyball tournament. They will travel to Montezuma Thursday to face Montezuma. Winning their pods and advancing to the Gold round were Colfax-Mingo and Belle Plaine.
North Mahaska opened the night with a 3-0 victory over Keota. The win gave the Warhawks a shot at the Pod title. Sigourney will play in the Silver round and Keota will be in the Bronze.
Host Sigourney took early control of the match winning the opener. The two teams took turns making runs and trading leads. The difference became the Warhawks’ edge in winning long rallies.
“We just never gave up,” said NM coach Erica Groom. “We fought for balls and stayed focused.”
NM put down 47 kills to 35 for Sigourney. The Lady Savages held the edge in blocks 6-4.
Carlie Scholtus led in kills with 13 and Layla Hargis with 12 and blocked two balls. Kaitlyn VanDonselaar meted out 22 assists and Morgan Hudson had 14. Record holder Zoe Deucore added to her dig mark with 36. Hargis had 23, Regan Grewe 15, Jalayna Shipley 13 and Scholtus with 10. Scholtus, Grewe and VanDonselaar each had two service aces.
In the match with Keota, Hargis had 11 kills and Grewe finished with eight. VanDonselaar was credited with 15 assists. Hargis had four blocks and Deucore dug up 40 balls. Four Warhawks had an ace apiece.