Edmunds County Tribune -

Ipswich's netters defeated LRC league rival Faulkton Area in straight sets last Tuesday in the Tiger Den. But it certainly wasn't all that easy. There were mini momentum switches and tied scores by both teams throughout the evening. But the Tigers would have the last say in all three sets. They got a kill from Lyndsey Grabowska for their initial 25-22 set-point and also outlasted the Trojans 28-26 in the second set, thanks to Kate Geditz's kill from the same side. The third set eventually also went in Ipswich's favor 25-20.

Ipswich edged Faulkton 40-35 in kills, but overall the Trojans enjoyed a 146-112 hitting advantage. Ipswich received 32 hits by Grabowska in 36 tries and she featured 13 of those kills. Next was Hailey Bierman at 17-20 with seven kills and Paige Mehlberg 15-17 with seven kills.

At the service line, though, Ipswich created a 72-59 lead over the Trojans and each team included a trio of aces. Grabowska also led that phase of the game with a 17-17 evening that featured a pair of aces. Tarynn Kleffman was next at 10-12 with the remaining IHS ace.

The Tigers' setting chores were mostly shared by Halle Heinz, 51-52 with 17 assists and Bailey Pitz 50-51 with a dozen assists. Overall they were 119-121 with 34 assists. Faulkton's offense was generated by a 176-176 setting evening that included 29 assists.

The Trojans totaled one solo block and 16 assists, while Ipswich created two solo efforts and five assists. Halie Feldman led that with a trio of assists and Grabowska featured one of each. Also defensively Ipswich utilized a 114 to 95 digging advantage over their visitors, led by Chesney Olivier with 35 digs and Grabowska with 28.

The Ipswich win hiked its LRC mark to 4-2 with Leola/Frederick left to play. And the Tigers' overall record improved to 16-2 after that huge win over the Trojans. But they are hoping for even more consistency down the stretch, as the regular-season winds down.

"We just need to keep improving and limiting our mistakes each time out. We didn't hurt ourselves too many times during the Faulkton match and were able to be multi-dimensional. If we have everyone firing on all cylinders by the end of October it will be fun to see how things play out," says IHS Coach Trent Osborne. "Now we need to heal up a little and be ready for the next match. They are all very important from here on out."