Having to face Warner and Northwestern in high school volleyball with a day of rest between them was no picnic last week. But that might have been a little better than meeting the two powerful LRC league foes on consecutive nights. At any rate Northwestern swept Ipswich 3-0 last Thursday at Northwestern, similar to Warner's straight sets win at Ipswich two nights earlier. (Northwestern's respective set score leads were 25-15, 25-9 and 25-16.)

The Wildcats were 73-84 at the net with 32 kills, while Ipswich went 77-92 with 21 kills -- quite respectable against a lot of opponents. Gracie Lange was 26-30 with 10 kills and Baylee Kulesa, 22-27 with five kills. And Marley Guthmiller was 8/8 with three kills. The hosts were led by Ella Haven with 19 kills and were 82-84 in setting with 32 assists. Meanwhile Ipswich finished 70 of its 72 set attempts that included 17 assists. Ipswich was led by Quincy Olivier, 59-61 with 16 assists and Reaghan Bowers, 7-7, 1.

Northwestern was 74-75 at the service line with nine aces; Ipswich, 33-37 with a pair of aces. Madison Geditz went 4-4 with one of those aces and Jaydin Stiles finished 3-3 with the other ace. And Lange added a 7-8 serving effort.

The hosts got 44 digs, as did Ipswich. The Tigers were led by Madison Geditz with 14 digs, Kulesa with 10 and Vanesa Diaz, six. Ipswich added two block assists -- one from Kulesa and the other by Marley Guthmiller.

The Tigers were scheduled to play Potter County at home on Tuesday and then Langford Area at home on Thursday. On Monday, Sept. 26 they will play North Central in Bowdle.

IHS VS. WARNER

Ipswich lost a homecourt straight-sets 3-0 LRC high school volleyball match on Tuesday, Sept. 13 vs. powerful Warner.

The set scores were 25-14, 25-15 and 25-13, respectively, so the Tigers were able to somewhat hang around in all three sets. They indeed cut their deficit to 9-7 at one juncture of their third set.

Ipswich went 66-87 at the net with 23 kills, led by Gracie Lange, 26-34, with 11 kills. Next were Baylee Kulesa, 18-18, with seven kills and Quincy Olivier at 8-11, 2. Warner responded with an 81-89 attack that featured 46 kills.

Warner also used a 73-74 serving night that included seven aces. Ipswich finished 40-43 at the line with four aces. Madison Geditz went 14-14 with two aces and next was Kulesa at 6-6, 1.

Ipswich distributed 69 sets without a miss which included 17 assists. Olivier was 55-55 with 13 assists and Reaghan Bowers went 7-7, 2.

Ipswich had 32 team digs, paced by Madison Geditz with 10 and Vanesa Diaz with eight. Meanwhile, Warner dug out 41 balls and added four block assists. Ipswich countered with two solo blocks and two assisted. Kulesa and Lange each had one of the solos.