Cardinals hold off Panthers

A few hours after breaking into the state rankings, the Clarinda volleyball team swept Creston in three competitive sets Thursday night, 25-21, 25-19, 25-20.

The Cardinals, improving to 17-4 as the No. 15-ranked team in Class 3A, relied on outside hitting of senior leaper Jerzee Knight and 6-foot-1 middle blocker Carsen Wellhausen to finish off each of the three close sets. Creston, falling to 8-10 overall and 1-5 in Hawkeye Ten play, was led by Jaycee Hanson with six kills and 17 digs.

Avery Staver had a team-high 18 digs and Braylee Pokorny had three solo blocks. Setter Kadley Bailey had 22 assists and had no errors in 14 serves.

Prior to the match, youth volleyball players were introduced and Panther seniors Ady Morrison and Mila Kuhns were honored with their parents. Morrison was effective at the service line, going 12-of-12 with one ace. Kuhns served 9-10 and contributed 12 digs for a defense that earned praise from coach Naomi Sharp.

“Our diggers were getting to balls all night,” Sharp said. “I would like to see our errors down. We had 23 hitting errors and that’s a lot. We’re not a tall team, so we have to be way more efficient in knowing when it’s a kill ball, and when to use our other utilities.”

Creston stayed in contention until the very end of all three sets. The Panthers led 7-5 in the opener and was still tied at 18-18 before the Cardinals ended on a 7-3 run. Knight served the final two points on an ace serve and a kill by Wellhausen,

Creston again led 8-6 and was tied 18-18 in set two before falling to Clarinda’s 7-1 finish. Creston fell behind 11-5 in set three but was still close at 23-18 on Ella Turner’s kill. It was 2-2 the rest of the way as the Cardinals ended the night with the 25-20 win.

“We’re this close to beating so many people,” Sharp said, holding her fingers close together. “As a team we don’t get down on each other, but as individuals we sometimes think, ‘Oh no, I made that mistake. I have to play safe and keep it in play.’ That’s been a little bit of a struggle for us. You just can’t play safe against a good team.”

The Panthers play their final home match Tuesday against Harlan (8-13, 1-2) before traveling Thursday to Red Oak (10-13, 2-2). The Panthers were coming off their first conference win since the 2022 season over Denison-Schleswig on Sept. 19, and a 1-4 mark at the Red Oak Invitational two days later, which included a win over Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln.

“I think we’re still going to get some more Hawkeye Ten wins,” Sharp said. “The girls are playing hard.”

Creston statistics

Serving (aces) — Kadley Bailey 14-14 (1), Ady Morrison 12-12 (1), Jaycee Hanson 9-10, Mila Kuhns 9-10.

Attacks (kills) — Hanson 6, Ella Turner 5, Braylee Pokorny 4.

Setting assists — Bailey 22.

Digs — Avery Staver 18, Hanson 17, Kuhns 12.

Blocks (solo) — Pokorny 3, Hope Henderson 1.