Waukon volleyball team has 2018 season brought to a close with four-set loss at 13th-rated - and now State qualifier - New Hampton in regional semifinals
Senior saves ... Waukon volleyball seniors Mary VanderVelden (photo above) and Ally Goltz (photo below) each reach out to bump up a save in the Indians’ four-set loss at 13th-rated New Hampton Tuesday, October 23 in the semifinal round of Class 3A Region 8 Tournament play. The two were just part of the five seniors who saw the final volleyball action of their high school careers in the postseason tournament loss. View and find out how to purchase these photos and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this website.
The improvement the Waukon volleyball team has made late in this season has continued to show itself in the net Tribe’s start to postseason tournament play. Although still showing obvious improvement traveling down that postseason road, that road and any chance to show further improvement this season came to a close in the Indians’ second-round Class 3A Region 8 match-up Tuesday, October 23 at 13th-rated New Hampton.
The Tribe’s late-season rejuvenation had resulted in a first win over Charles City in more than a decade and reversal of a 2-4 regular season Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC) record to a 4-2 mark against those same teams at the NEIC Tournament within the past two weeks. Following a first opening-round tournament victory since the 2014 season less than a week earlier, the Indians were matched up in their regional semifinal match with a New Hampton team holding a 34-5 season record and a sweep of seven straight sets in three previous match victories over the Tribe this season. Despite that trend throughout this season, and the result of this match ultimately also ending up in the Chickasaws’ favor, that result was not without another improved Indian showing that saw the net Tribe score its first set victory of this season over the highly-regarded Chickasaws in splitting the match’s first two sets before having their season ended in four sets.
The Indians’ season came to a close with a 17-18-4 season record, including a 2-4 mark to place fifth in the final seven-team Northeast Iowa Conference standings.
For more complete coverage, pick up this week's print edition or subscribe to our e-edition by clicking here.
