Foiled Again: Cadets oust Lynx from postseason in 4 games

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Iowa Falls-Alden 3, Webster City 0

Attacks-Mandy Finucan 6-6, 4 kills; Maddie Maharry 17-19, 5 kills; Grace Nelson 39-45, 19 kills; Sawyer Gourley 22-26, 5 kills; Emily Sletten 11-14, 3 kills; Kaitlin Ricklefs 5-6.

Blocks-Maharry 1, Sletten 3, Ricklefs 1.

Digs-Finucan 9, Maharry 6, Nelson 17, Jessica O'Connell 24, Gourley 13, Sletten 3, Jennifer Smith 5, Ricklefs 1.

Assists-Finucan 30, Nelson 1, O'Connell 2, Sletten 1, Smith 1.

Serving-Finucan 12-13; Maharry 7-7, 1 ace; Nelson 10-10; O'Connell 14-14, 1 ace; Gourley 12-13, 1 ace; Smith 8-10.

STORY CITY - Just how bad did Grace Nelson want to win? For the answer, you only needed to look to the Mascara.

Slumped down in the hallway just outside the Roland-Story High School gymnasium, an exhausted Nelson could only bury her hooded sweatshirt-covered head in her hands and cry Thursday night after her Webster City volleyball team was eliminated from the postseason following a 3-1 loss to North Central Conference nemesis Iowa Falls-Alden in a Class 3A Region 4 semifinal.

Nelson, a junior outside hitter, left everything she had - and then some - on the floor and carried the Lynx (16-19) throughout the match. But it still wasn't enough.

"It sucks. There's no other way to put it, it just really, really sucks because I love the girls on this team so much and we have such great chemistry," Nelson said while wiping the dripping makeup off her face following the Cadets' 25-17, 16-25, 25-13, 25-14 triumph - their second of the season over Webster City.

Nelson's right arm dished out one rocket after another at the Iowa Falls-Alden defense and she finished with a match-high 19 kills. Five of her kills came during the first 10 points of Game 2 and her instant offense allowed the Lynx to take an early lead that they never relinquished in the stanza.

"I was not only trying to hit hard, but really see the court and see what open shots there were," Nelson said. "I really tried to mix it up and throw the defense off."

Nelson went down the line on three consecutive points early in Game 2 to push Webster City in front 7-3 and the Cadets never got closer than four points the remainder of the way.

But while the Lynx had the biggest single weapon, Iowa Falls-Alden (21-11) owned the balance, as five girls had at least five kills. Junior southpaw Aly Smith punctured the Lynx defense with 10 kills, including four in the opener to get her team out of the gates quickly. Naomi Forgy in the middle and Liz Wagoner on the outside both cranked out eight kills, Shelby Reynolds laced seven and Ashley Smith finished with five.

"They found some holes and that's what good teams do," Webster City head coach Jessica Kastler said of the Cadets, who advanced to Tuesday's regional final in Eagle Grove against second-ranked Algona - a 3-0 winner over Forest City on Thursday. "And their right-side hitter (Aly Smith) is a good hitter. She gets it done for them."

IF-A rattled off 10 of the final 13 points in the opening game - keyed by a pair of kills from Reynolds and two quick hits by setter Tara Polzin.

After Webster City tied the match at 1, the Cadets methodically took control of the contest by moving the ball around the floor and forcing the Lynx into miscues. IF-A took a 2-1 lead in Game 3 on a block by Aly Smith and it maintained an advantage on the scoreboard throughout the final two games.

While Nelson was the workhorse for the Lynx, four other players slapped at last three kills. Senior Maddie Maharry had five and classmate Mandy Finucan notched four in their last match. Juniors Sawyer Gourley and Emily Sletten finished with five and three, respectively.

Junior libero Jessica O'Connell dove all over the floor en route to a match-best 24 digs, while Nelson collected 17 and Gourley 13. Finucan handed out 30 assists and also tallied nine digs.

"The girls went after it and I'm not sure the score really shows how close the games were," Kastler said. "For the seniors, it always has to end sometime. But there are some really good players coming back next year."

Nelson agrees and says it's up to her and the other returning players to make sure that next season doesn't end with streaks of makeup on their cheeks.

"I'm extremely excited for next year, but it's the offseason that counts," she said. "We're all going to try out for a club team this winter and we're going to keep playing throughout the year and see where that gets us next year."