Mount Ayr sees season end after 5-set Lenox match

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There is no love loss between Mount Ayr and Lenox.
Lenox, the regular season Pride Of Iowa East Division champs and POI tournament champs hosted rival Mount Ayr last week in the first round of the Class 1A Region 3 tournament.
In two meetings this year, each team had a victory over the other. Last week, the match went to five sets, and the Lenox Tigers would win, 3-2 to advance in the tournament.
Mount Ayr ended the season 15-13 while Lenox improved to 24-11. The 15 wins by the Raiderettes are the most since the 2018 season for the Mount Ayr program.
“If we were going to go out, that is how we needed to go out. A five-set match that we gave it our all,” said Mount Ayr head coach Kristen Graham.
The Raiderettes were just three points shy of upsetting the Tigers.
Mount Ayr beat Lenox at Lenox on August 28 in a triangular meet, 2-1. The Raiderettes won by scores of 25-23, 17-25, and 15-11. Later in the season, the Raiderettes fell 3-1 at Lenox in a regular season POI match. That match saw only one set, the 25-15 Mount Ayr win in the third set, getting more than a four-point difference.
Mount Ayr got out to a good start in game one, with Breya Nickle and Ashlyn Murphy getting in on a block for the first point and senior Hayden Ruggles serving an ace to go up 2-0 on the Tigers. Nickle logged six blocks on the night. A block by Lenox’s Zoey Reed tied the score at 5, but a series of Lenox errors put the Raiderettes up 8-5. Mount Ayr went up 17-9 and held off the Tigers getting within one point to take the first set 25-18.
Mount Ayr would see Lenox tie the match at 1-1 with a 25-17 win by the Tigers. Lenox would repeat that score in the third set to take a 2-1 match lead.
Mount Ayr used a big run to start the fourth set to go up 6-1 after a kill by senior Abby Eaton and a couple of successful blocks. Lenox came back, but the Raiders would hold on to take a close 26-24 fourth set to tie the match at 2-2. In the fifth and deciding set, Lenox led the whole way and would claim the match 3-2, winning another close set, 15-12.
“I thought for the first set, we were going to do this. Then the second set came and we had a hard time staying with them. They had a big gap on us. Same as the third. Our service receive wasn’t where we needed it. I was proud of the kids for forcing a fifth set. That’s what you want, you want to have a chance,” said Graham.
Mount Ayr had 121 attacks in the match and had 34 kills. Aubree Shields led with 31 attacks and 11 kills. Abby Eaton had nine kills and Breya Nickle had five kills. Hayden Ruggles had 21 assists and Dannie Stewart had seven assists. Olivia Huntington led in digs with 26, one of five Mount Ayr players with ten or more digs in the match. The Raiderettes served 90-for-97 with eleven aces. Abby Eaton led, going 22-for-23 with an ace. Ruggles and Huntington had five and four ace serves.
Lenox had a whopping 156 attacks in the match that led to 57 kills. Sadie Cox led with 48 attacks that led to 22 kills. Gabby Robles had 15 kills and Ava Junker chipped in nine kills. Zoey Reed had 29 assists and Delaney Funk had 18 assists. Cox led in digs with 29 and serving, going 17-for-18 with eight aces.
Other winners in Region 3 on the first night were Lamoni over East Union 3-0, Sidney over Essex 3-0, East Mills over Hamburg 3-0, Council Bluffs St. Albert over Heartland Christian 3-0, Bedford over Diagonal 3-0, and Griswold over Fremont-Mills, 3-0. Lenox would go on and defeat Griswold in the next round 3-1 by scores of 19-25, 25-18, 27-25, and 25-23 in a close match. The Tigers were to play at Class 1A No. 11 Council Bluffs St. Albert. The winner of that match will play the winner of the other Region 3 semifinal between No. 7 Stanton and East Mills on Wednesday, October 25.

The Raiderettes will say goodbye to seniors Janna Irving, Abby Eaton, and Hayden Ruggles. “It’s hard for the seniors to go. This year has been one of the best seasons in my four years as the head coach. This group of seniors was my first class here. Those three seniors have made such an impact on the entire team. They have shown the others what a positive culture looks like and what it takes to have a good team,” said Graham.
Graham said that some of her kids will continue to play volleyball before next season or compete in other sports for Mount Ayr.
“Some of the kids coming back next year will play club volleyball. Most of the kids do other things like basketball, track, or something. We had a young team this year and there will be some spots open next year. I am already looking forward to it,” said Graham.

Lenox 3, Mount Ayr 2
Class 1A Region 3 first round
MA 25 17 17 26 12
L 18 25 25 24 15

Mount Ayr Statistics:
Attacks (102-121 34 kills): Aubree Shields 28-31 11 kills, Breya Nickle 22-26 5 kills, Abby Eaton 17-21 9 kills, Hayden Ruggles 14-18 4 kills, Ashlyn Murphy 14-17 2 kills, Anna Greenland 5-6 2 kills, Olivia Huntington 1-1, Dannie Stewart 1-1. Assists (31): Hayden Ruggles 21, Dannie Stewart 7, Anna Greenland 1, Breya Nickle 1, Olivia Huntington 1. Blocks (14): Breya Nickle 6, Aubree Shields 3, Hayden Ruggles 2, Ashlyn Murphy 1, Anna Greenland 1, Abby Eaton 1. Digs (101): Olivia Huntington 26, Breya Nickle 19, Hayden Ruggles 14, Abby Eaton 11, Janna Irving 10, Ashlyn Murphy 8, Dannie Stewart 7, Aubree Shields 5, Anna Greenland 1. Serving (90-97 11 aces): Abby Eaton 22-23 1 ace, Olivia Huntington 20-20 4 aces, Hayden Ruggles 17-19 5 aces, Breya Nickle 8-10, Janna Irving 10-10, Ashlyn Murphy 9-9 1 ace, Aubree Shields 4-6.
Lenox Statistics:
Attacks (131-156 57 kills): Sadie Cox 40-48 22 kills, Izzy Curtis 32-26 6 kills, Ava Junker 28-32 9 kills, Gabby Robles 21-26 15 kills, Zoey Reed 7-7 2 kills, Delaney Funk 3-7 3 kills. Assists (55): Zoey Reed 29, Delaney Funk 18, Sadie Cox 3, Gabby Robles 3, Ava Junker 1, Danielle Robinson 1. Blocks (19): Sadie Cox 10, Zoey Reed 5, Delaney Funk 2, Izzy Curtis 2. Digs (97): Sadie Cox 29, Zoey Reed 15, Danielle Robinson 14, Delaney Funk 13, Aubrie Mohr 11, Gabby Robles 10, Ava Junker 2, Dayna Robinson 2, Izzy Curtis 1. Serving (86-95 17 aces): Sadie Cox 17-18 8 aces, Danielle Robinson 14-17 1 ace, Gabby Robles 15-17 4 aces, Zoey Reed 13-15 1 ace, Delaney Funk 13-14 3 aces, Aubrie Mohr 14-14.