Panthers fall in regionals bout with Glenwood

GLENWOOD — The 2024 Panther volleyball  season came to a close Thursday in Glenwood after a 3-0 regionals sweep by the Rams (35-6).

The 10-15 season with a 2-6 Hawkeye 10 record is the most successful for Creston since the 2019 season that finished 13-18.

Glenwood won the sets 25-23, 25-7 and 25-11.

The Panthers kept up with the Rams in set one, coming back from a 4-1 defecit to tie at 6. Braylee Pokorny had a kill and Kadley Bailey had an ace to help close the gap.

Hollynn Rieck had a nice kill to take an 11-10 Panther lead, but two penalties against Creston and a hit out of bounds brought the Rams back up 13-11.

Down 23-20, the Panthers got fired up as Pokorny scored on a block and then a kill. Glenwood’s next hit went long, tying the game at 23.

The Rams took a timeout to slow the Panther momentum, and it worked. Glenwood finished out the game with a kill and then an ace serve by senior Olivia Hanover.

“The girls played tough on set one and almost took that set,” Creston coach Naomi Sharp said. “We just had too many errors in sets two and three. Kudos to Glenwood — they are tough.”

While the Panthers had a bettter serving percentage, 88.4% to 83.6%, the Rams served 10 aces compared to two by the Panthers. Bailey had both aces.

Senior Ady Morrison, a left-handed server, went 100% from the service line.

“Ady is calm and cool at all times,” Sharp said. “She’s a great server.”

She finishes the season 96.6% from the line, missing only three serves on the season.

The other senior is defensive specialist Mila Kuhns. Kuhns logged 159 digs on the season.

“Mila has been a great passer and always brings enthusiasm,” Sharp said. “We will miss our seniors. Mila and Ady have been such great athletes to coach and played key roles on our team.”

Game two was an easy win for Glenwood, holding the Panthers to single-digit points.

The Rams got out to a 10-2 lead and never looked back. Out of the Panthers’ seven points, five were errors or penalties on the Rams. Hope Henderson had an early kill and Bailey had an ace during that match.

The Rams scored eight unanswered to finish the set.

“Charlie Hernandez,  their outside hitter, is one of the best hitters I have seen in a while,” Sharp said. “I am proud of my team this year for never giving up and always showing up.”

Hernandez led the Rams with 20 kills on the night. Senior Allison Koontz had 36 assists for Glenwood.

While it was too little too late, the Panthers came back to score four points after being down 20-7, making it to 11 before the Rams won.

Rieck and Jaycee Hanson led the attack at the net, each scoring four kills. Pokorny added three while Bailey had 15 assists.

Libero Avery Staver and Rieck each had 10 digs.

Glenwood advancesdto the Class 4A regional championship where they hosted ADM yesterday. Results were not available by the time of print.