Stanton defeats Bedford, preps for Ar-We-Va final

Rachel Sorensen will never forget her first regional final Nov. 3, 2009, at Red Oak High School against the Treynor Cardinals.

Sorensen was a freshman on the team that season and said so much has changed from that first regional final.

“I was scared to death, the crowd was so loud,” Sorensen said. “We had never seen a crowd that big before.”

The Viqueens fell short of reaching the state tournament when they lost to Treynor 3-1 three seasons ago.
Sorensen looks at the situation now and said the Viqueens practiced for the big crowd environment and they’re prepared and ready.

“We come in prepared knowing the crowds are going to be loud and everything,” she said.

Stanton was able to get over that hump and play in the state tournament the next two years with regional final wins against Bedford and Corning. The Viqueens and Sorensen have one more chance to play in Cedar Rapids when Stanton faces Ar-We-Va Wednesday night in Atlantic in the 1A Regional Finals.

“It could potentially be the last time we put on our jerseys,” Sorensen said. “You always want to come out and be prepared, as seniors, as upperclassmen and lower classmen, you always want to give it your all.”

Stanton reached the regional final with a sweep of Bedford in the semifinals Friday night in Corning.

“I think the girls played an awesome game tonight,” Stanton Head Volleyball Coach Jody Druivenga said. “They were very excited all week long to get to be here tonight and I just think they really worked hard on the floor tonight.”

Bedford took an early lead in the first game, but it soon disappeared as Stanton rallied and at one point led 17-7. The Bulldogs didn’t back off as they rallied to score six of the next seven points to cut the lead to 18-13.

Bedford never got closer than five points from the lead as Stanton won game one 25-18. Blocking was key in the first game as they were able to utilize it to keep Bedford at bay.

“We knew what we were going to be faced with and we worked on blocking a lot in the last two weeks,” Druivenga said.

Bedford had a taste of the lead in game two, but it didn’t last long as Stanton went on an 11-0 run to lead 13-4. The Viqueens held Bedford in check from there as Stanton found themselves a game away from the regional final by winning game two 25-10.

“I just think Bedford got the momentum,” Druivenga said. “They’re a very fundamentally sound team and very well coached.

The Bulldogs held on to the lead much longer in game three. At one point, Bedford led the game 14-7.
“We had to keep the ball in play and the score on our side,” setter Roey Sink said.

Sink helped set up the attack, which helped Stanton erase the deficit, but they weren’t able to take over the lead until late in the game. The Viqueens went to Sorensen, as well as several other players to keep close as outside hitter Carmen Subbert played much of the third game in the back row.

“I just tried to keep everything alive so that we can set it up and get our ship sailing again,” Subbert said.

The Viqueens tied the game 22-22 and then took the lead following a Bedford timeout on a Sorensen kill.

“Both of those girls are very strong hitters and they’re just able to put that ball down,” Druivenga said about Sorensen and Subbert. “That’s where we get a lot of our points.”

Sorensen had a kill on the next point, which put Stanton in a position to win the match.

“We’re all important, I don’t think there’s any one person on our team we could do without, even our bench,” Sorensen said. “We’re all important no matter what.”

The Viqueens won when Bedford hit the point out of bounds. The win against Bedford makes it the fourth straight regional finals match for Stanton.

“It feels pretty good to be on the road to state again, but you don’t want to look too far ahead,” Subbert said. “You’ve got to look at it like this could be the last game so we’ve got to go out and do our thing.”

Ar-We-Va reached the regional final by defeating Woodbine Friday night in Woodbine, 3-0. This will be the first meeting between the two teams this season.

Sorensen, along with Kara Allen, Sink and Ragen Anderson, are part of a group who have been playing varsity since freshman year.

“We’ve all matured as players,” Sorensen said about the team.

Even though she is a senior, Sorensen said there isn’t any additional pressure.

“I think it just motivates us more, especially as seniors because no one wants to end it on a bad note,” Sorensen said. “I think that motivates us to keep wanting to do better and keep going further.”

Wednesday’s regional final will start at 7 p.m.