JEWELL – Ady Wintermote channeled her inner Ric Flair – for anyone under the age of 30, he’s an iconic professional wrestler – as she turned the page and started to look forward.

“You’ve got to beat the best to be the best, that’s what everyone keeps telling me, so I’m ready. Let’s go,” Wintermote, a South Hamilton junior, said.

Ady, your wish has been granted.

South Hamilton will put its season on the line Friday night in a Class 2A Region 5 semifinal against sixth-ranked and four-time defending state champion Dike-New Hartford on the Wolverines’ home floor in Dike.

Are the Hawks intimidated? Wintermote says no.

“We need to forget about the name on their jersey and just bring our game to them,” she said. “We need to show them who we are and surprise them. As hard as they’re pushing us, we need to push right back.”

South Hamilton (18-8) set up the showdown by blasting past Fort Dodge St. Edmond, 3-0, in a regional quarterfinal-round match inside its home gymnasium Tuesday night. Wintermote blitzed the Gaels (6-24) with 19 kills and the Hawks were never in danger in the 25-10, 25-14, 25-23 rout.

Playing for the first time in 12 days, South Hamilton lashed 31 kills and hit .186. When a point was needed, setter Alissa Moss always found a way to get the ball to Wintermote, who hit a dominant .484. The team’s outside hitter – or hammer, take your pick – slapped nine kills in the third set, which was close until the very end.

Tied at 19 in the third, Moss found Wintermote on four straight plays, and on all four she put the ball down. Even when her timing was off, Wintermote simply changed tactics and used her left arm to increase the lead.

Moss finished with 27 of the team’s 31 assists.

South Hamilton head coach Rusty Wintermote admitted there were some things that need to be corrected, but finishing the Gaels off in straight sets was the ultimate goal.

“The girls were able to find another gear and finish strong,” he said. “The positive is we got a match in. But we’ve got to have more moxie and assertiveness in that match (on Friday) if we want to win.”

Alyssa Hegland, who along with fellow senior Abby Elsner played on her home court for the final time, thumped seven kills and three service aces. She took over the opening set after St. Edmond had pulled to within 13-10 by smacking a kill and then rattling off 11 consecutive points one her serve.

That momentum transferred over to the second set, as the Hawks did what they wanted, when they wanted en route to a 21-6 cushion. Lily Skartvedt roped three consecutive aces during a 10-0 spurt.

St. Edmond rallied to make it respectable when the Hawks went to their bench, but an ace by libero Anna Moss finished the set off.

Anna Moss led the Hawks’ defense with 25 digs. She said her team accomplished its goal of staying in the moment.

“We definitely knew we had to focus on this match. We had to play hard and if we didn’t we weren’t going to advance,” she said.

Chloe Barkema was solid defensively in the front row with five blocks. Ady Wintermote registered three blocks and six digs.

Freshman Katelyn Sogard dropped in three of her team-high four aces in the final set.

Dike-New Hartford (35-9) advanced to Friday’s semifinal with a three-set sweep of Hudson, 25-23, 25-19, 25-22, on Tuesday. The Wolverines took two sets from South Hamilton at the Ames Invitational on Aug. 29, but that seems like a lifetime ago.

“They hit hard, so we just have to be on our toes and be ready for anything,” Anna Moss said.

Friday’s winner will advance to the regional final in Parkersburg next Wednesday. Seventh-ranked Grundy Center (28-8) and Woodward-Granger (29-8) will play in the other semifinal in Marshalltown on Friday for the right to play in the final.

Both regional semifinals are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.