Raiderettes secure POI title
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By RYAN STONEBRAKER
LIBERTY CENTER, Iowa – The Mount Ayr volleyball team is playing its best volleyball of the season having won nine of their last 10 matches and completing the Pride of Iowa part of their regular season schedule a perfect 8-0.
This comes after beating both Nodaway Valley and Class 1A No. 12 SE Warren last Tuesday, September 30 in Liberty Center. The two wins secured the POI title for Mount Ayr after beating the Warhawks in a matchup between two previously 7-0 unbeaten teams in the conference. The Raiderettes also improved to 23-9 overall.
Mount Ayr had two early week matches for the week. The Raiderettes played at Murray on Monday, October 6 and hosted Wayne on October 7 (results not available as of press time). Mount Ayr will play in the 2025 Pride of Iowa Conference tournament early next week as the postseason is right around the corner in the upcoming weeks as postseason brackets to be released soon.
Mount Ayr played Nodaway Valley in the first of two matches. Against Nodaway Valley, the Raiderettes beat the Wolverines by a 2-0 sweep. The victory was the seventh sweep in POI matches this season in seven matches. Mount Ayr won the first set 25-15 and took the match by winning the second set 25-12.
The Raiderettes had 51 attacks in the match and 26 kills for a highly efficient run of points. Aubree Shields had 25 attacks and 15 kills and Izzy Gilbertson had 12 attacks and six kills. Emma Reynolds added four kills from nine attacks and Jaylee Shaffer had one kill. Shaffer led in assists with 18 while Abby Larson led in digs with four.
Mount Ayr served 46-for-49 with six services ace as a team. Shields led the squad going 13-for-14 with an ace and Dannie Stewart was 12-for-12 with two ace serves. Larson had a pair of aces and Reynolds also had an ace serve.
Nodaway Valley was led by Emma Boswell in kills with 4fourin 16 attacks and Matti Thompson had six assists. Izzy Eisbach had four digs and Addy Herr served 5-or-6 to lead Nodaway Valley.
The win over Nodaway Valley was the third straight for Mount Ayr with wins in each of the past three seasons.
The Raiderettes win over SE Warren was by a 2-1 match win to get the win. All three sets were close as the Warhawks didn’t want to lose the POI title on their home floor. Mount Ayr fell 25-20 in the first set as SE Warren took a 1-0 match lead. The Raiderettes turned the momentum in the second set, winning a marathon 31-29 second set to tie the match at 1-1. The third set was also close, but Mount Ayr was able to get the win, 15-10, to claim the match 2-1.
Mount Ayr got back at the Warhawks after losing twice to SE Warren earlier this season by scores of 2-1 and 2-0 in non-conference matches at the Clarke volleyball tournament back on September 6 in Osceola. SE Warren and Mount Ayr are the only teams in the POI going into this week’s matches that have over 20 overall wins. SW Valley has 19 and Nodaway Valley 10 as the only teams with 10 or more wins at this point of the season.
Mount Ayr snapped a two-match win streak by SE Warren and beat the Warhawks for just the second time in nine matches since 2021.
Mount Ayr totaled 45 attacks in the match with 33 kills. Aubree Shields led with 45 attacks and 20 kills while Izzy Gilbertson had 20 attacks and eight kills. Jaylee Shaffer had 28 assists in the match. Shaffer and Emma Reynolds each had a pair of kills and Mackenzie Knox had one kill. Shields and Knox co-led in digs with nine each and Shields and Gilbertson led in blocks as both had players had five a piece.
Mount Ayr served 54-for-60 with six aces as a team led by Dannie Stewart who was 16-for-17 with three aces. Gilbertson served 11-for-13 with two aces and Shields served 11-for-11.
Lexi Clendenen led SE Warren in kills with 13 on 29 attacks. Jessica Lillig had 22 assists. Clendenen led four Warhawks with double-digit dig totals with 13 and Lillig served 19-for-19 with one ace to lead SE Warren.
Mount Ayr 2, Nodaway Valley 0
Tuesday, September 30
At Liberty Center
NV 15 12
MA 25 25
Attacks (44-for-51 26 kills): Aubree Shields 21-for-25 15 kills, Izzy Gilbertson 12-for-12 6 kills, Emma Reynolds 8-for-9 4 kills, Jaylee Shaffer 2-for-2 1 kill, Dannie Stewart 1-for-2, Mackenzie Knox 0-for-1. Assists (20): Jaylee Shaffer 18, Abby Larson 1, Izzy Gilbertson 1. Blocks (8): Izzy Gilbertson 4, Jaylee Shaffer 3, Aubree Shields 1. Digs (12): Abby Larson 4, Kate Newton 3, Dannie Stewart 2, Mackenzie Knox 2, Jaylee Shaffer 1. Serving (46-for-49 6 aces): Aubree Shields 13-for-14 1 ace, Dannie Stewart 12-for-12 2 aces, Abby Larson 9-for-9 2 aces, Jaylee Shaffer 7-for-8, Emma Reynolds 3-for-4 1 ace, Izzy Gilbertson 2-for-2.
Mount Ayr 2, SE Warren 1
Tuesday, September 30
At Liberty Center
MA 20 31 15
SEW 25 29 10
Attacks (73-for-84 33 kills): Aubree Shields 41-for-45 20 kills, Izzy Gilbertson 17-for-20 8 kills, Emma Reynolds 4-for-7 2 kills, Jaylee Shaffer 4-for-4 2 kills, Dannie Stewart 3-for-4, Mackenzie Knox 4-for-4 1 kill. Assists (31): Jaylee Shaffer 28, Aubree Shields 1, Adley Dredge 1, Abby Larson 1. Blocks (10): Aubree Shields 5, Izzy Gilbertson 5). Digs (51): Mackenzie Knox 9, Aubreee Shields 9, Dannie Stewart 7, Izzy Gilbertson 5, Emma Reynolds 5, Abby Larson 5, Kate Newton 5, Adley Dredge 4, Jaylee Shaffer 2.