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Post: Blog2_Post
Val T.

Pioneer has match point, but 11 service errors doom Panthers in Cass County Tourney loss to Logansport

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

LOGANSPORT — Freshman Laylah Demond had nine kills, and Keirsten Nies had seven kills, seven assists, five digs and two blocks, but the Pioneer volleyball team lost to Logansport 17-25, 25-22, 16-14 in the Cass County Tournament championship match at the Berry Bowl Saturday.

Pioneer had a match point at 14-13 after a Lois Layer stuff block.

But a Layer service error tied it – it was Pioneer’s 11th service error – and Logansport 6-1 freshman middle hitter Khloe Ellis followed with a stuff. A Nies kill error wide left ended it.

Pioneer trailed 8-2 at one point in the third set before rallying. Averi Layer and Aspen Moolenaar had kills to start the comeback.

They then scored six straight points to turn a 10-5 deficit into an 11-10 lead. Moolenaar went down the line for a kill, and Nies delivered a clean ace.

Then Demond took over with a tip, a kill off an overpass and a two-handed kill. Then the teams exchanged six straight sideouts before Layer’s stuff.

Pioneer graduated six of the eight players who saw the court in last year’s Class 2A semistate loss to Muncie Burris. The only returnees are Nies and Layer. 

Demond, Averi Layer and libero Madyson Shaffer are all freshmen. Moolenaar, a junior, and Kendalyn Farrer, a sophomore, also were getting their first varsity experience.

“I think they’ve just got to calm down,” Pioneer coach Rod Nies said. “They get all excited, and you see it in a couple of those plays late in the game where it got really exciting and chaotic, and they’ve got to understand just to slow the ball down, get the game back in control where they can control it, and then we forge ahead.

“This is only going to make them better.” 

Coach Nies utilized only seven players. He said junior back row player Ava Beasy was out after receiving 21 stitches in her hand. He said she will be out at least two more weeks.

“We’ve got to get healthy,” coach Nies said. “We don’t have a ton of depth, so some of these girls, I’m going to depend on them playing all the way around.”

Keirsten Nies and Lois Layer will be the setters in a two-setter system, but in the most important points of the match, coach Nies wants to make sure Keirsten Nies is doing the hitting.

“It’s no different than a basketball  game or a football game,” coach Nies said. “You want your best players getting the ball at the end of the game, so they dictate the outcome. Tonight, Keirsten played great. She had a couple of errors right there at the end, but it was the 14 other points before that that cost us. She’s beating herself up, but I want my best players getting the ball.”

Nies is prioritizing the end of the season, which might be similar to last season. Pioneer lost 13 regular season matches last year before making their tournament run.

This year, they dropped to Class 1A.

“We’re going to take losses, and I told them I don’t care about wins and losses,” coach Nies said. “Well, I do care about wins and losses, but I want to prepare us for the end of the season, and our schedule will do that.”

Pioneer reached the title match with a 25-15, 25-17 win over Caston in the first round. Logansport routed Lewis Cass 25-12, 25-11 in their first-round match.

Lewis Cass beats Caston for third place

One year after winning the Cass County Tournament for the first time, Caston went 0-2 and finished in fourth place.

After their loss to Pioneer in the first round, they fell to Lewis Cass 25-19, 25-20 in the consolation match.

Caston started three seniors in middle hitter Ashlyn Bailey, setter Makena Middleton and libero Karlee Sommers. Kylee Logan is the only junior on the roster, and she started at outside hitter. Sophomore setter Madi Douglass, sophomore middle hitter Natalie Warner and freshman outside hitter Grace Colvin also started.

Caston cut a 19-10 deficit down to 20-16 in the first set thanks to a rare free ball kill from Bailey and three Lewis Cass errors.

Two aces from Lauren Tocco restored Lewis Cass’ 24-16 lead.

An Emma Hildebrand back row kill error for Lewis Cass, a Bailey kill and a Colvin ace cut the deficit to 24-19 before an Ava Hubner back row kill closed out the set.

Caston led 17-16 in Set 2 thanks to a Colvin kill and a Hubner kill error, but Lewis Cass countered with an 8-2 run.

Logansport def. Pioneer, 17-25, 25-22, 16-14 (championship)

Pioneer stats

Aspen Moolenaar – 6 kills, 1 assist, 14 digs; Averi Layer – 2 kills, 8 digs; Keirsten Nies – 7 kills; 2 aces, 7 assists, 5 digs, 2 blocks; Kendalyn Farrer – 1 kill, 1 dig, 1 block; Laylah Demond – 9 kills, 2 digs, 1 block; Lois Layer – 3 kills, 13 assists, 11 digs, 1 block; Madyson Shaffer – 9 digs

Lewis Cass def. Caston, 25-19, 25-20 (consolation)

Caston stats

Karlee Sommers – 2 kills, 5 digs, 23 serves received; Madi Douglass – 1 kill, 5 digs, 3 assists, 2 serves received; Ashlyn Bailey – 2 kills, 1 block; Natalie Warner – 3 kills, 2 blocks; Grace Colvin – 2 kills, 1 ace, 1 block, 7 digs, 5 serves received; Kylee Logan – 1 ace, 2 blocks, 8 digs, 1 assist, 10 serves received; Makena Middleton – 3 digs, 5 assists

Pioneer def. Caston, 25-15, 25-17 (first round)

Caston stats

Karlee Sommers – 2 kills, 9 digs, 1 assist, 14 serves received; Kylee Logan – 3 kills, 1 ace, 2 blocks, 4 digs, 6 serves received; Natalie Warner – 4 kills, 3 blocks; Grace Colvin – 2 kills, 5 serves received; Makena Middleton – 1 kill, 1 ace, 1 block, 2 digs, 5 assists; Ashlyn Bailey – 1 block, 1 dig, 1 assist; Madi Douglass – 5 digs, 3 assists, 4 serves received; Baylee Harrison – 4 serves received; Jada Martz – 1 serve received; Breeona Laurence – 1 serve received


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