Stanton prepares for Corning in finals
The Stanton Viqueens have made it to their third straight regional final and will look to make a second straight appearance at the state volleyball tournament in Cedar Rapids.
To make it to the Ice Arena, Stanton will take on the Corning Red Raiders Tuesday night in Red Oak.
“It is a final, but we’ll just come into it, stay focused and stay on our side of the court,” Stanton Viqueens Head Coach J. Browning said.
Both teams have met once this season, Sept. 19 in Corning. Stanton came out on top in that match, 3-2.
Corning defeated Lamoni 3-0 to reach the Regional Final. They picked up an upset win over Bedford in the quarterfinals, last Tuesday, 3-2.
Stanton defeated the Nishnabotna Blue Devils in the semifinals Friday night 3-0 to make it to the final.
“I’m proud of the girls,” Browning said. “We did what we had to do.”
The Viqueens struck quick in the first game, jumping out to a 9-4 lead. Nishnabotna stayed within five points, trailing 14-9. However, Stanton scored 11 of the next 12 points to win the first game 25-10.
Game two went back-and-forth as both sides exchanged the lead five times and were tied 10 times.
“Our passing wasn’t on the whole game and Nishnabotna never gave up,” Carmen Subbert said. “They kept swinging hard and they had a lot of good blocks.”
Nishnabotna took a three-point lead early in the second game, but Stanton tied it up and took the lead at 9-8. With the lead, Stanton rallied and jumped out to a 20-13 lead.
The Blue Devils weren’t done as they closed the gap and tied the game at 22-22. Each team traded a point, but a hit into the net by Stanton gave Nishnabotna the lead and a chance to steal game two.
“We just got outplayed for a while,” Browning said. “We weren’t playing with as much emotion as we usually play with.”
The Viqueens tied the game thanks to a kill by Rachel Sorensen. However, a sideout gave the Blue Devils their second opportunity to win game two, but they weren’t able to capitalize.
“We just had to refocus everything and shake everything off, start from scratch,” Subbert said. “When we get our minds clear, we can usually play well.”
A Subbert kill put Stanton back in the lead and they took advantage, winning game two 28-26.
“We got Carmen rotated right up to the front row. She is one of our biggest hitters,” Browning said. “She was taking some good swings for us, so that helped us out.”
Stanton took an early lead thanks to a pair of serving aces by Ragen Anderson. However, Nishnabotna stayed with the Viqueens, even taking the lead.
“We knew Nishnabotna was ready to get us,” Subbert said. “We had to be fired up, we couldn’t take them too lightly.”
However, Stanton ran away with the game when it was tied at 15, scoring 10 straight points to win 25-15.
“Nishnabotna is a team that’s going to make you earn every point,” Browning said. “That was a good match to get you prepared for.”
In the quarterfinals, Stanton defeated the Riverside Bulldogs, 3-0, last Tuesday in Stanton.
Riverside took the lead once in game one, but that was it as the serving by Stanton, in particular Roey Sink, stifled the Bulldogs. Stanton won game one 25-12.
The Viqueens had 13 serving aces during the match, with Sink responsible for seven.
Game two was all Stanton as they took a 10-4 lead, which ballooned to 18-5. The Viqueens won that second game 25-8.
Riverside scored the first three points to create a cushion for the lead, but it didn’t last long. Stanton rallied and took back the lead, building it to 15-9 at one point. The Viqueens won game three 25-15.
Sorensen finished the match with 10 kills out of 17 attack attempts.
Subbert was right behind Sorensen as she finished with nine kills, as well as five digs and two solo blocks. Sink, along with the aces, also had 15 assists and two blocks.