March 29, 2024

Cardinals clean up in playoff opener

CD bows out of Pride of Iowa Conference tourney early

LEON – Central Decatur is moving on in Class 2A Region 3 play, winning its opening round game against Interstate 35 3-0 Monday night.

The win for the Cardinals came in 25-21, 25-20 and 25-19 set victories to improve to 5-17 this season. The Roadrunners’ season ends at 4-18.

CD jumped out early in the first set, going up 12-6 on points by Malloree Horn and aces from Mara Dykes.

A seven-point lead was broke down to a one-point advantage by I-35, but the Cardinals never trailed en route to the 25-21 win.

In the second set, CD faltered early on. An 8-1 lead by I-35 was erased on Amy Potter’s serve, who served the Cardinals to a 9-8 lead.

The Roadrunners evened the score the last time at 17-17, the third time in the set, before the Cardinals ran off with the set at 25-20.

Trailing early in the second set, CD head coach Chelsey Sinclair rallied her team together to break down the lead and reel I-35 back to an even game.

“Just to be in control of what they were doing and hit their spots (in attacking),” Sinclair said to her team during the timeout. “We worked on it, they know exactly where to go, they just need to take a breath and focus on where they needed to go.”

In Set 3, CD never lost the lead, extending a 3-0 start to a 22-15 advantage. The Cardinals closed out the set at 25-19 with a kill by Addiston Graham.

Looking at the Roadrunners in film, CD saw the vulnerabilities in their gameplay, and tried to capitalize. CD also did the same to counter I-35’s prep, and tried to shore up their defensive play against taller players.

“We tore apart film and realized where we needed to hit to and our hitters have been working on that all week,” said Sinclair. “I thought they did a pretty good job of hitting those spots. We’ve shifted our defense since the last game and there [were] only a couple of miscommunications, but I think it worked really well. I wish we would have changed it earlier in the year.”

CD, not the tallest of teams, made due with what they had all night by flipping into open space and pushing past collapsing Roadrunner defenders. With the tallest girl topping out at 5-7, and the shortest girl at 5-3, Sinclair knows her team’s limits and strengths.

“Just having those girls that kind of have a harder time jumping, knowing where they need to put the ball versus where someone who can get a little higher puts it,” said Sinclair on her offensive mindset with a shorter team. “Working on those tips, roll shots, we’ve been zeroing in on the specific hits for each girl this week.”

The Cardinals were led in kills by Graham’s eight. Behind her was Horn, who posted seven.

Dykes led in assists with 16. Digs were evenly spread out amongst the regulars on the floor, with Dykes leading with 12. Four Cardinals tied for 11 digs (Lyndsey Dale, Hallee Hamilton, Carlee Hamilton, Horn).

Potter was the most efficient Central Decatur player from serve, going 17-for-18 with four aces for 94.4% efficiency.

The Cardinals will next take on Van Meter (16-3) Wednesday (Oct. 21) in Van Meter for the second round of Class 2A Region 3 action. The Bulldogs were on a bye, and will be facing the Cardinals for the first time in the Quickstats era.

Early exit at POI

LEON – CD was bounced 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-21) by Southwest Valley in the opening round of Pride of Iowa Conference tournament pool play Monday, Oct. 12.

The loss in the opening round saw Horn lead in kills with four, and Dykes lead in assists with seven.

Horn also led in digs with 14. River Hamaker had the lone block in the loss.

Clarke bounced

KNOXVILLE – Clarke’s season came to a close Monday night with a 3-0 (25-5, 25-9, 25-9) loss to Knoxville in Class 3A Region 4 play.

No stats were available at time of press. Clarke’s season ends with a 5-17 record.