Sports, Tuesday, October 27th

By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com 

HTC Sees State Streak Close as Notre Dame Rallies for Set 5 Winner:

Gabby Deery and Katy Stephens paced a high-powered Nike attack, while Jenna Bentz had five blocks as the No. 14 (1A) Notre Dame Nike volleyball team upset No. 8 Holy Trinity last night 3-2 in a Class 1A-8 Region Semifinal last night.

Notre Dame grabbed the match by the scruff of it’s neck, dominating the first two sets earning 25-16 and 25-14 wins.

That’s when Holy Trinity would wake up.

Claire Pothitakis and freshman Mary Kate Bendlage helped lead a two-set surge as the Crusaders earned hard-fought 25-22 and 25-23 wins to force a decisive set five.

Trailing set five 9-5, Notre Dame rallied for a 10-3 run — led by consecutive blocks by Gabby Deery and Abby Korschgen and two more from Katy Stephens which helped the Nikes wrangle a 10-9 lead.

They would not look back — clinching their spot in the Class 1A-8 Regional Final Wednesday at Mount Pleasant High School.

The loss for Holy Trinity put an end and 10 straight trips to the U.S. Cellular Center and State Volleyball.

They closed their season with a record of 26-10.

Notre Dame improved to 16-5 — winners of 11 straight matches they’ll meet up with…

WACO Crushes Lisbon Dreams:

WACO dominated the first two sets en route to a 3-2 win over the No. 10 (1A) Lisbon Lions last night in Lisbon.

The Warriors jumped out to 25-16 and 25-18 wins before seeing the Lions roar back for 25-17 and 25-21 wins of their own in sets three and four.

That’s when WACO would answer back.

The Warriors dominated set five from the outset, clinching their trip to Wednesday’s regional final with a 15-5 victory.

The win improved WACO to 25-7 while Lisbon ended their terrific year with a record of 26-5.

Wednesday’s region final between WACO and Notre Dame will be the second meeting this year between the schools — the Nikes took it 3-1 on WACO’s senior night.

First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. and you can listen along on KILJ-FM and online at kilj.com.

New London Clinches Trip to Region Final:

New London rolled to 25-19, 25-11 and 25-3 wins as the the No. 11 Tigers clinched a trip to the Class 1A-5 Region Finals on Wednesday night.

The Tigers racked up 13 service aces on night in which they had a python-like grip on Melcher-Dallas from the word go.

They’ll now meet up with No. 5 Southeast Warren (25-0) who cakewalked to the finals.

Natalie Burden and freshman Sophie Malott came up big for New London, who finished with eight kills apiece.

Paris Wilka ended her night with seven, while Keura Williams had six for a balanced New London team.

Elly Manning dropped 16 assists while dynamic libero Kyra Linkin finished with 20 digs.

New London’s win improved them to 21-7.

First serve on Wednesday from Ottumwa Middle School is set for 7:00 p.m., you can listen along on KILJ-AM.

Other area scores:

  • #2 (2A) Wilton 3, Columbus 0
  • #14 (2A) West Branch 3, Van Buren County 1

Iowa States’ Hall Named Co-BIG 12 P.O.W:

Iowa State sophomore running back Breece Hall was honored by the Big 12 Conference for his performance versus Oklahoma State on Saturday, earning Co-Offensive Player of the Week accolades from the league office.

It was the second weekly award for Hall this season.

A native of Wichita, Kan., Hall continued his push for national awards by rushing for a career-high 185 yards at No. 6 Oklahoma State, Saturday.

Hall leads all NCAA players in yards per game (143.2), 100-yard rushing games (5) and 65+ yard runs (3). His streak of five-straight 100-yard rushing efforts ties for the third-best string in school history.

Hall is averaging 6.3 yards per carry on the year, which is on pace to break Iowa State’s single-season school mark.

Iowa State Basketball Announces BIG 12 Schedule:

The Big 12 Conference has announced its men’s basketball schedule for the 2020-21 season.

The schedule features a double round-robin format for the 10th consecutive season. Conference action begins in December with a pair of games, before being scheduled to conclude on Feb. 27.

The league will break from conference play on Jan. 30 to play the previously announced SEC/Big 12 Challenge, which features the Cyclones traveling to Mississippi State.

Iowa State opens conference action on Dec. 15 when it hosts Kansas State. Three days later, the Cyclones face West Virginia in Morgantown.

After a break for nonconference games and the holiday, Iowa State resumes Big 12 action on Jan. 2 against Baylor at Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones host Kansas on Saturday, Feb. 13.

The Big 12 season wraps up on Saturday, Feb. 27 at home against TCU.

The league will have the week of March 1-5 off before heading to Kansas City for the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships at T-Mobile Center, March 10-13.