Edmunds County Tribune -

Ipswich swept its own Ipswich Subway Invitational high school volleyball invite on Saturday in the Tiger Den. The Lady Tigers indeed won all four of their matches, capped by a 25-23, 25-20 defeat of Langford Area in the title match. South Border had topped Herreid/Selby Area 2-0 for third place in the event and Lemmon swept Kimball/White Lake in the fifth-place affair. Aberdeen Christian claimed seventh with a win over Leola/Frederick. The four wins improved Ipswich to 12-3 at that point in time.

The Lady Tigers had opened with a 25-13, 25-20 sweep of Aberdeen Christian, followed by twin 25-14 wins over Lemmon. Ipswich then won its third pool match over South Border 25-21, 25-18.

"What a great weekend of volleyball for the Tigers," said coach Trent Osborne. "To get through a week where we battled the 2018 State Champs and Runners Up and then have a very positive weekend is very encouraging for what these girls can and will accomplish."

In the championship match Ipswich briefly trailed 3-0 in the opening set, but not for long. The set was tied at 4-4 and would be tied two more times, before the Lady Tigers were permanently able to sustain small working leads. Langford certainly made things interesting, closing to within a point, 24-23 with a late rally. But Ipswich got a Paige Mehlberg kill to clinch the set. The next set saw Ipswich grab a 23-18 edge late in the set and that five-point cushion would remain in place after a Langford hitting error ended the set and match.

Ipswich used a 63-73 hitting outcome that included 21 kills. Halle Heinz was 19-19 with six kills to lead the way, followed by Avery Sylte, 11-14 with five kills. Langford countered with a 69-77 hitting effort that featured 23 kills, led by Ady Dwight, 28-30 with 16 kills. Ipswich was 49-51 in setting with 20 assists. Heinz was 31-33 with 13 assists. At the service line Ipswich finished 48-51 with nine aces, paced by Heinz, 9-10 with five aces.

Ipswich had 42 digs led by Lindsey Grabowska with 12 digs, Chesney Olivier with 11 and Heinz with 10. The Lady Tigers added a solo block and four assisted, paced by Paige Mehlberg and Sylte with two assists apiece, while Grabowska featured the solo.

Opening the day against Aberdeen Christian, Ipswich had a 73-82 hitting day that included 23 kills. Heinz had six of the kills among her 17 hits and Halie Feldman went 14-14 with five kills and Sylte,14-16  with four kills. Ipswich was 43-48 at the service line with two aces, paced by Bailey Pitz, 13-13 with an ace and Grabowska, 9-11 with the remaining ace. Ipswich utilized 20 set assists, 11 from Heinz and nine by Pitz.

Ipswich had 55 digs, led by Olivier with 20 and Sylte with 11. Mehlberg added a pair of solo blocks and Feldman the other.

The Lady Tigers rolled up some balanced numbers in their second pool win over Lemmon. They featured a 48-56 hitting afternoon with 17 kills led by Hailey Bierman, 10-11 with two kills and Feldman 9-10 with three kills, while Grabowska had the most  kills with five among her seven total hits.  Heinz also had seven hits, including four kills.

Ipswich was benefited by 15 set assists, led by Heinz with nine and Pitz with six. The Lady Tigers also had nine service aces among their 44 total serves. Heinz was 16-17 in this department with six of the aces.

Ipswich had 38 digs led by Sylte and Olivier with eight each. They added two solo blocks and 10 assisted blocks, led by Mehlberg with one solo and five assists.

Meanwhile Ipswich defeated a stubborn South Border team in their third pool match of the day. But the Lady Tigers capped set one with a Grabowska kill for that 25-21 victory and then won the second set and match capped by a Sylte kill.

Ipswich featured 24 kills among its 67 hits in 80 tries. Sylte went 14-16 with seven kills and Heinz was 15-18 with five kills. (Feldman also had five kills.) Ipswich had 23 set assists, led by Pitz with 11 and Heinz with 10. The Lady Tigers were 43-49 in serving with three aces and it was another balanced effort. Grabowska and Pitz  were each 12-12 there.

Ipswich had 34 digs, led by Olivier with nine and Grabowska with eight. The Lady Tigers were able to obtain five solo blocks and four assisted, led by Mehlberg with three solos and one assist.

Ipswich landed three players on the Subway All-Tourney team, Heinz, Olivier and Mehlberg.

The Lady Tigers were to play Potter County in Hoven on Sept. 24. Then they will have a rematch with Langford, this time a conference match on the road on Sept. 26. Then they will travel to Roscoe to play the new North Central coop on Sept. 30.