Confidence out of the gates

It took an eventful fourth set, but Creston shut the door on Adel-DeSoto-Minburn 25-21, 25-13, 25-27, 25-23 in a high intensity, back and forth showdown to start the season.

The Panthers dropped the third set after fighting back from a 23-21 deficit to tie the set at 25.

In the fourth, Creston showed a little mental fatigue falling behind 8-4, but reeled off five straight points to take a 9-8 lead. ADM used its main two hitters to open up another lead of 21-18 over the Panthers, but Creston held strong and closed the door.

MaKenna Hudson made a monstrous dig on the final point that saved the Panthers, allowing Emma Hanson to step up and place the ball between two ADM blockers to end it.

A number of different players caught co-head coaches Mallory Peterson and Naomi Sharp’s eyes, but the improvements in Hanson’s game were apparent instantly.

“She was on the ball. She was getting touches for us and she just had a really solid game,” said Peterson. “She played all winter and it really shows.”

“Offensively we (have) to get the ball in her hands more,” added Sharp.

Hanson was a perfect 20-of-20 serving and helped Creston pull off a number of runs while putting the ball in play. She also led the team in blocks with six solo and two assists while adding in six kills.

Hudson posted 15 digs, none bigger than the one that helped save the match, leading her to smack the floor in excitement afterward.

Senior Megan Haley and sophomore Kelsey Fields acted as Creston’s 1-2 punch offensively as Haley put away eight kills while Fields posted a team-high 12 putaways.

Fellow senior Bree Ross doled out 28 assists and beamed with confidence postgame after fending off an ADM team that defeated them last year.

“It felt really good. Last year we never would have done that so it was really good for us to get that confidence,” said Ross. “We all wanted to get it done and kind of came together and ‘this is it. This is ours. Let’s do it.’”

Her coaches echoed the sentiment of how much growth Creston has shown from a season prior, noting that their aggressiveness and mentality are bounds above where they used to be.

“As soon as that was over I looked at coach (Sharp) and said ‘We couldn’t have done that last year,’” said Peterson. “The leadership, the mentality, the buy-in is 100 percent better, that has come a long way since last season.”

Sam Dunphy added five kills to the stat sheet and Taylor Buxton put up four more. Dunphy was 22-of-25 serving with three aces while Buxton was 17 of 18.

Mental toughness was a big part of the coaches’ message to the team before the season and will continue to be throughout the year, but Creston got some added help from a raucous student section.

ADM’s offense came mainly from two sources, Josi Lonneman and Jordyn Crow who racked up a plethora of kills for the Tigers on the opposite side of the net.

Student section

As the final two sets grew closer, so did the intensity from the far corner of the stands, consisting of students decked out in beach gear.

“This is the loudest it has ever been in here and it felt so good,” said Ross.

“This is hands down the best crowd, the best atmosphere I’ve had in the gym ever,” Peterson said. “... Huge shout out to our student section. That was great. It helps the girls, it helps us. They feed off of that and its great to have that support.”

Creston expects to continue to work on its out of system play, hoping that they can continue to be aggressive offensively even when the ball isn’t perfectly set up for a kill.

A new style put in place this offseason looked to have plenty of success in the team’s season opener.

UP NEXT – Creston (1-0) will look to get the same amount of energy from the fans and continue to fuel its offensive looks as the Panthers as once again at home on Thursday against Clarinda (0-3).

Freshmen

Creston’s freshmen volleyball team also took down ADM by a final score of 25-20, 24-26, 10-2.

Head coach Mike McCabe was pleased with his team’s effort.

“Good opening for our young group we were very nervous about the first (high school) match but I was very proud of them,” said McCabe. “Good team effort. The thing I liked most was our court demeanor to each other very positive and supportive.”

Creston 3, ADM 1

Serving (aces) — Sam Dunphy 22-25 (3), Emma Hanson 20-20 (1), Taylor Buxton 17-18 (1), Bree Ross 10-10, Megan Haley 12-13, MaKenna Hudson 10-12.

Attacks (kills) — Kelsey Fields (12), Megan Haley (8), Emma Hanson 13-14 (6), Samantha Dunphy 7-9 (5), Taylor Buxton 26-31 (4), Bree Ross 5-6 (1), MaKenna Hudson 2-3.

Blocks (solo, assists) — Hanson (6,2), Haley (1,2), Dunphy (1,2), Fields (0,2), Ross (1,1).

Setting (assists) — Ross 28.

Digs — Hudson 15, Peyton Rice 8, Ross 7, Buxton 6, Haley 3, Dunphy 2.