OTTUMWA —
The Ottummwa volleyball program has as venerable history brimming with numerous conference championships, but one accomplishment has proven to be stubbornly elusive: A state tournament berth.
“Ottumwa’s never made it to state and I want to be the coach to take them to state,” coach Jessica Carson previously said.
The time to turn that goal into a reality has arrived. The Bulldogs kick off their postseason Thursday with a Class 5A, Region 8 semifinal match at Burlington.
The Bulldogs (16-19) will go into the match as the favorite; the Greyhounds (4-19) have dropped 12 of their last 15 matches and are in the midst of a five-match losing streak. But Ottumwa can’t afford to take its opponents too lightly. While it’s true that Burlington has struggled to get into the win column as of late, the Bulldogs also struggled to secure victories at the end of their regular season: The girls dropped five of their last six matches, including two to CIML Metro foe Des Moines Roosevelt.
Bailey Darnall is far and away Burlington’s leader in kills with 137; Gabby Wrede has the second most with 69. Darnall also is the Greyhound’s most valuable server with 39 aces overall.
The Bulldog’s season thus far has been typified by a stubborn resistance to streaks of any nature. The Bulldogs have never lost more than four straight matches, but they haven’t won more than three, either. This can be partly attributed to the youthful nature of this year’s squad — several of Ottumwa’s girls went into the season with little, if any, varsity experience.
One of the highlights for the Bulldogs this season was when they won three of four matches in their home invitational at Evans Middle School in mid-September. The girls racked up wins against Washington (22-20, 21-12), Mount Pleasant (21-15, 21-9) and Davis County (21-5, 23-25, 15-6), before falling to No. 14 Fairfield (4A) 25-14, 22-25, 16-14 in the semifinals.
One constant for the team has been senior middle hitter Katie Sammons, who has consistently led the Bulldogs in kills. Sammons’ dominating presence at the net has been at the epicenter of much of Ottumwa’s offensive success this season. For example, she had 17 kills in Ottumwa’s 3-0 sweep of Des Moines Hoover and she had 41 of the team’s 89 kills at the Bulldogs home tournament. After the Hoover match, coach Jessica Carson referred to Sammons as her team’s go-to hitter.
Senior Beth Overturf and sophomore Chloe Davis have provided the breadth of Ottumwa’s assists for Ottumwa this year from the setter position. Davis has done a yeoman’s job at setter after being tapped to fill the vacancy left by Megan Black, who was moved from setter to outside hitter.
Black also has played a substantial role in the Bulldogs’ success. Her smooth transition from setter to outside hitter was prompted by a season-ending injury to senior outside setter Sammy Garrett, who tore her right anterior cruciate ligament before the season got started. Senior libero Olivia Roark regularly leads the team in digs. Roark returned to the volleyball team this season after taking a one-year hiatus to try her luck at cross country.
Freshman Ellie Hammack has provided a spark for the Bulldogs this year by providing Ottumwa with accurate serves, kills and blocks. Junior right side hitter Karissa Wilcoxson also has been a vital asset for Ottumwa; she’s been among the leaders in kills in several games.
Seniors Kelsey Guyette and Ashlyn Nordyke, junior Megan Cobler, sophomores Jaiden Cloyd, Mallary Simmer and Hope Bitner also have played helpful roles for the Bulldogs this season.
If Ottumwa defeats the Greyhounds, the Bulldogs will play the winner of Iowa City West and Iowa City High in the regional finals next Tuesday in Iowa City.
Sports
October 24, 2012
Ottumwa spikers look for first state berth
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Blue Demons big rally stuns Van Buren in eight
