Warhawks win POI volleyball crown

LEON — Southeast Warren roared

back from an opening set loss to Southwest Valley to win the Pride of Iowa Conference tournament championship Tuesday, 3-1.

An active defense and an offense spearheaded by senior middle hitter Aliva Ruble carried the Warhawks (26-12) to a 21-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-21 triumph at Central Decatur High School. Ruble had 31 kills and 18 digs in the championship match.

Southeast Warren reached the finals with a 3-1 semifinal victory over Lenox, 25-21, 25-23, 12-25, 25-11 victory over Lenox. Southwest Valley advanced in a sweep of Nodaway Valley, 25-20, 25-11, 25-21.

Lenox outlasted Nodaway Valley 32-30 in a marathon third set to earn the 3-0 sweep in the third-place match. The Tigers prevailed in the first two sets by scores of 25-21 and 25-14.

Southwest Valley has reached the semifinals of the POI tournament eight of the past nine years, and won the championship three years ago. It appeared the Timberwolves were on the doorstep of another title after taking the opening set from the Warhawks, 25-21. But, Southeast Warren never let the Timberwolves sustain that momentum the rest of the match.

“We let Ruble get a couple of runs on us when she was in the front row, and we weren’t able to really utilize our front row when she was in the back row,” first-year Southwest Valley coach Lisa Sparks said. “Their defense made a few adjustments on our hitters, which really helped them pick up some balls.”

Ruble, who came into the night with 390 of Southeast Warren’s 672 kills this season, kept the Southwest Valley defense scrambling to get into a rhythm.

“Their defense really keeps the ball alive and she (Ruble) was hitting well enough that it was keeping us out of system,” Sparks said.

Although Southwest Valley’s computerized statistical program wasn’t operating correctly during the fourth set, setter Ryanne Mullen was credited with 24 assists and the senior reached 1,000 career assists during Tuesday’s final round of the tournament.

Outside hitter Charlee Larsen had 11 kills and four digs. Tierney Dalton was credited with seven kills, but added several more during the fourth set that wasn’t included in the team’s statistics. Maggie Haer added eight kills. Southeast Warren’s scrappy defense was aided by Kaylee Tigner’s 14 kids and 13 by Josie Kosman. Lydia Kern had 40 setting assists.

Southwest Valley (17-7) concludes the regular season Thursday in a triangular at Shenandoah along with Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson.

Lenox (14-17) was led in the third-place match by Sadie Cox’s 15 kills, 25 digs and two blocks. She was also 19-20 at the service line with five aces. Cadence Douglas added 10 kills. Gabby Robles had 15 digs. Zoey Reed was 20-21 serving with two aces. Ava Junker had a pair of blocks. Setters Angela Zapata and Delaney Funk had 11 and 10 assists, respectively.

Nodaway Valley fell to 8-20 with the two losses Tuesday. Statistics from Tuesday’s matches were unavailable at press time. The Wolverines advanced to the final four with a 3-2 win over Central Decatur on Monday, including a 17-15 fifth set victory.

POI championship

SE Warren 3, SW Valley 1

Kills — SWV: Charlee Larsen 11, Maggie Haer 8, Tierney Dalton 7. SEW: Alivia Ruble 31, Fleur Onnekink 6, Lexi Clendenen 5.

Digs — SWV: Larsen 4, Ryanne Mullen 4, Haer 4, Haidyn Top 4. SEW: Ruble 18, Kaylee Tigner 14, Josie Kosman 13.

Assists — SWV: Ryanne Mullen 24. SEW: Lydia Kern 40.

(Southwest Valley statistics do not include the fourth set.)