Panthers battle, fall to Beckman

     A tough opponent and traditional powerhouse awaited the Monticello Panthers as they began play in the Class 3A, Region 7 volleyball quarterfinals Wednesday, Oct. 18 at Dyersville Beckman.

     And while Monticello kept things close against the ninth-ranked Trailblazers, the Panthers came up short, losing 16-25, 23-25, 23-25 to see their season come to an end.

     “Beckman is a good team, and I like their chances to make it to the U.S. Cellular Center (for the state tournament),” Monticello coach Stacie Breitbach said. “Beckman has a balanced team. They are strong offensively, block really well, and the back row doesn’t let the ball hit the ground without a body there.”

     The coach also praised her team’s performance.

     “They played with a lot of heart, and did a nice job of mixing up our offense and believing in each other,” Breitbach said.

     The first set started out 5-5, and then the teams alternated runs. The Blazers scored five straight to take a 10-5 lead, the Panthers cut it to 10-8, Beckman went up 14-8, and Monticello got it back to a 14-12 deficit.

     But the decisive run went to Beckman, which scored 11 of the last 15 points to close it out.

     “I don’t think we came out as confident as we could,” Breitbach said, “Beckman did a nice job defending the net, and we needed to make some adjustments.”

     Monticello fell behind 4-10 in the second set, but made a series of gradual comebacks to get within one point on two occasions, at 22-23 and 23-24. But a kill by Beckman’s Isabelle Bennett ended the set and gave the Blazers a 2-0 lead in the match.

     The Panthers led several times in the third set. Trailing 6-9, they rallied to take an 11-10 lead, and led 14-12, 16-13, 20-18 and 22-20.

     Beckman cut it to 22-21, and then a series of errors allowed the Blazers to put the Panthers in a 22-24 hole. A kill by Rileigh Lambert cut the margin to 23-24, but Beckman’s Ellie Bildstein recorded a kill to complete the match.

     Monticello had a balanced attack of its own, with Jordan Kuper and Lauren Ries totaling eight kills apiece, and Corinne Gadient getting seven. Maddie Lambert had 25 assists.

     The Panthers also served 100 percent as a team, 63-for-63, with five aces. Savanah Kremer was 15-for-15 with two aces, Maddie Lambert was 13-for-13, and Ries was 10-for-10. Kuper had two aces, and Caitlyn Cruise had one.

     Defensively, Monticello had 51 digs as a team, led by Kremer with 12, Kuper with 10 and Ries with nine.

     The Panthers finished the season 23-10, and were co-champions of the River Valley Conference North Division with a 4-1 record.

     “This was a very enjoyable season,” the coach said. “The girls wanted to win conference and worked extremely hard to make that happen. All of our losses, except one, were to teams that were ranked at some point in the season. I couldn’t be more proud of these kids.”

     The loss ended the high school careers of eight seniors: Maria Recker, Macy McDonough, Shalay Bronemann, Lauren Ries, Caitlyn Cruise, Maddie Lambert, Rileigh Lambert and Savanah Kremer.

     “The seniors are a wonderful group of gals,” Breitbach said. “I have had the opportunity to watch these kiddos since they were playing Saturday mornings at the middle school when they were in fifth grade. They have accomplished much in their volleyball careers, and I think the best is yet to come for these gals off the court. They are a really good bunch of young people.”      

Oct. 18

Class 2A, Region 7

quarterfinal

(at Dyersville)

Beckman 3, Monticello 0

MONTICELLO                            Kl     Bl    Dg   Ac

Caitlyn Cruise                               0      0      6      1

Corinne Gadient                           7      2      5      0

Jaelynn Kraus                               5      0      2      0

Savanah Kremer                           0      0   12      2

Jordan Kuper                                 8      2   10      2

Maddie Lambert                            4      1      4      0

Rileigh Lambert                             2      0      1      0

Macy McDonough                         0      0      2      0

Lauren Ries                                   8      0      9      0

Totals                                           34     5     51     5

Assists – M. Lambert 25, Kremer 4, Ries 2,

Macy McDonough, 1.

Serving leaders – Savanah Kremer 15-15,

M. Lambert 13-13, Ries 10-10.

Set scores

Monticello                   16   23   23 

Dy. Beckman              25   25   25