A milestone for Kuper: Senior records 1,000th career kill

     When you watch Monticello senior Jordan Kuper slam a volleyball to the floor, it’s easy to understand why a spike that scores a point is called a “kill.”

     Now, Kuper has more than 1,000 of them in her career.

     Kuper reached the milestone during the Panthers’ three-set sweep of Northeast Sept. 12.

     With the Panther student section keeping track – Kuper came into the match needing nine kills to get to 1,000 – she attained the goal on the point that gave Monticello a 23-13 lead in the second set. It wasn’t the powerful slam Panther fans are used to seeing from Kuper; she was back from the net a bit and didn’t have the angle to give the ball a full swing. But it fell in, and the match was paused briefly while fans gave her a standing ovation.

     After the match, Kuper credited the teammates who have played with her throughout her career.

     “It was fun,” Kuper said of reaching the goal. “I can’t thank my teammates enough, over the four years I’ve had. They’ve all been great.

     “Jordan is determined, and a hard worker,” Monticello coach Stacie Breitbach said. “She sees the court really well and has improved on putting the ball where the defense isn’t. She is a role model for her teammates.”

     Kuper finished the match with 16 kills, giving her 1,007 for her career.

     The Panthers swept Northeast 25-23, 25-17, 25-11. It was an important win for Monticello (2-1 in the River Valley Conference, 10-3 overall), which had lost at Anamosa two days earlier.

     “We did a better job of attacking the ball and putting pressure on Northeast to make mistakes,” Breitbach said. “We also served aggressively, which helped us get some runs of scoring.”

     The biggest of those runs was in the second set. Monticello fell behind 8-3, but won a side-out to make it 8-4. With Kuper serving, the Panthers ran off 11 straight points for a 15-8 lead, then opened it to 23-13 before closing out the win.

     Tori McDonald had 22 assists in the match, and served 15-for-15. DeLainy Fellinger had 11 digs. Kuper had nine digs and five aces. Emma Hynick had six kills.

     Things didn’t go as well for the Panthers in a four-set loss at Anamosa Sept. 10. Monticello lost the first set 15-25, won the second 25-19 to tie it, but then lost 14-25, 25-27.

     “We had chances to put it away, and just came up a little short,” the coach said. “We needed to be a little more aggressive offensively and consistent with our passes.”

     Kuper did have 20 kills in the match, helped by McDonald’s 25 assists. Fellinger was the dig leader with 12, and McDonald had nine. Carly Hayen had three blocks, while Hynick, Kuper and McDonald had two apiece. Hynick was second on the team in kills with seven.

Sept. 10

Anamosa 3, Monticello 1

MONTICELLO                            Kl     Bl  Dg    Ac

DeLainy Fellinger                         0      0   12      0

Tori McDonald                              3      2      9      1

Jordan Kuper                              20      2      7      2

Carly Hayen                                 2       3      2      0

Leah Holub                                  0      0      8      1

Gabrielle Steiner                          2      0      1      0

Sophie Hodge                              0      0      3      0

Bronwyn Hodge                           0      1      2      0

Emma Hynick                              7      2      5      2

Madison Butterworth                   0      0      0      0

Jaelyn Aitchison                          0      0      4      1

Totals                                         34   10    53      7

Assists – McDonald 25, Kuper 4, Holub 1,

Fellinger 1.

Serving leaders – Aitchison 15-15,

Fellinger 14-14, Holub 12-12,

McDonald 11-11.

Set scores

Monticello                      15   25   14   25

Anamosa                       25   19   25   27

Sept. 12

Monticello 3, Northeast 0

MONTICELLO                            Kl   Bl  Dg  Ac

DeLainy Fellinger                         0      0   11      2

Tori McDonald                              1      1      7      0

Jordan Kuper                              16     1      9      5

Carly Hayen                                 0      1      1      0

Leah Holub                                  0      0      1      1

Gabrielle Steiner                          3      0      3      0

Sophie Hodge                              0      0      5      0

Bronwyn Hodge                            2      1      0      0

Emma Hynick                               6      0      1      0

Jaelyn Aitchison                           0      0      0      1

Totals                                          28     4     38     9

Assists – McDonald 2, Kuper 2, Fellinger 1.

Serving leaders – McDonald 15-15,

Fellinger 11-12.

Set scores

Northeast                     23   17   11

Monticello                    25   25   25