Kuemper Vs Missouri Valley At Harlan- Class 2A Regional 3 Final
Kuemper 3
Missouri Valley 1
14-25, 27-25, 25-21, 25-15
Kuemper rebounded from a tough start to advance to the State Tournament for the first time since the 2019 season, beating Missouri Valley 3-1 in the Class 2A Regional 3 Final in Harlan on Wednesday. The Knights struggled in set one for the second straight match. Unlike their win over Treynor in the Regional Semifinals, Kuemper wasn’t able to turn it around in the set as Ava Hilts and Ella Myler were swinging well for the Big Red while Kuemper couldn’t find a rhythm. Missouri Valley quickly jumped out 5-1. Kuemper seemed to settle in, cutting the deficit to 7-5, but the Big Red answered with an 8-0 run behind the serving of Maya Contreraz. Frannie Glynn came up with a kill and Kaylie Simons dropped in an ace serve, making it 15-7. Missouri Valley took control again and pulled away to win 25-14. The Knights gathered in the hallway between the sets and regrouped. It worked well, Sophie Badding started set two with one of her nine blocks, giving Kuemper a 1-0 lead. Missouri Valley scored a pair of points to lead 2-1 for the first of 6 leads changes. The Big Red would go up by 3 at 8-5 but Kuemper responded, tying the set at 8, 9 and 10 before going up 11-10. Missouri Valley went right back on top with two straight points, leading 12-11, then 13-11. Kuemper tied it at 13, then Sophie Badding had a kill, giving Kuemper a 14-13 lead. It looked like Kuemper would take control, building a 20-16 lead. Missouri Valley chipped away, pulling within 21-20, then took the lead at 23-22. Kuemper came right back, leading 24-23. Missouri Valley tied the set at 24 and 25 but Sophie Badding and Lauren Boell ended the set with a block, giving Kuemper a 27-25 win, tying the match as a set apiece. Set two was tied 6 lead changes and 11 ties.
Missouri Valley started fast in set three, leading 2-0 but Kuemper tied it at 2, then took the lead 7-6. Missouri Valley went back up 9-8 and kept the lead through the middle part of the set. The Knights tied it at 12, 13, 15 and 16 before finally taking a 17-16 lead. Kuemper never trailed again, building a 23-18 lead. The third set featured 10 ties and 3 lead changes. The fourth set was tight early with three lead changes until Kuemper went up 4-3. The Knights wouldn’t trail again and Missouri Valley was never able to tie the set, though they kept it tight, trailing 12-11. Kuemper took charge with a service run by Aubrey Heuton, going up 18-11. The lead would grow to 22-13. Kuemper could sense it as Missouri Valley looked to be wearing down. Kaylie Simons went back to the service line, having dropped in two ace serves where she dropped in a perfect short serve. Missouri Valley slide up, trying to take away the short serve but Simons was able to drop in another short ace to end the match, sending Kuemper to the State Tournament.
Sophie Badding was nearly unstoppable in the last three sets, finishing with a team high 18 kills. Frannie Glynn and Kaci Peter both played huge as well with both having 11 kills. They were critical in Kuemper pulling out the final three sets. Lauren Boell added 7 kills and was really strong defensively at the net with 7 kills. Sophie Badding teamed with Boell for a lot of those blocks and had a team high 9 blocks. Frannie Glynn added 3 blocks. Ashlyn Badding and Macy Simons were terrific keeping the Missouri Valley block moving, with Badding having 27 assists and Simons finishing with 20. Kaylie Simons finished with 3 aces and was all over the court, having 26 digs along with 6 assists. Aubrey Heuton added 3 aces and Lauren Boell had 2 aces. Brianna Wittrock added 7 digs.
The Knights won their 14th straight match, improving to 38-4. They will be the 8th seed at the State Tournament and open play on Tuesday at 2:00 on Court One against top seeded Dike-New Hartford, who is 42-2. The match will be broadcast on KIKD 106.7 with pregame beginning around 20 minutes prior to the match.
Kuemper Stats
Frannie Glynn 11 Kills, 3 Blocks
Kaci Peter 11 Kills, 2 Digs
Sophie Badding 18 Kills, 3 Digs, 9 Blocks
Aubrey Heuton 3 Kills, 2 Digs, 3 Aces
Lauren Boell 7 Kills, Dig, 7 Blocks, 2 Aces
Brianna Wittrock 5 Kills, 7 Digs, 2 Blocks
Ashlyn Badding 27 Assists, 6 Digs
Macy Simons 20 Assists, 7 Digs
Kaylie Simons 6 Assists, 26 Digs, 3 Aces
Brooke Rohe 3 Digs
