Lone Tree finishes Columbus in three

By Jeff Yoder
Posted 10/8/21

After edging Columbus 25-23 in the first set on Thursday, the Lone Tree volleyball players discovered another gear in the second. The Lady Lions were up by just a point when senior Alivia Hemsted …

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Lone Tree finishes Columbus in three

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After edging Columbus 25-23 in the first set on Thursday, the Lone Tree volleyball players discovered another gear in the second. The Lady Lions were up by just a point when senior Alivia Hemsted started serving. The lead would grow to 22-13 before she was done, and Lone Tree went on to sweep the Wildcats in three sets. 

The key for Hemsted was “just staying focused and getting my serves in,” she said after the match. “We were just being really scrappy during the whole game.” 

Hemsted was 20-of-22 serving with four aces in the match

It was the second conference victory for Lone Tree this season, and the first sweep in a conference match. 

“It feels really good,” Hemsted said. “We worked really hard to win that game.”

The Lady Lions carried momentum from the 25-15 second set win into the third and opened up with a 5-0 lead. Columbus continued to battle and trailed just 21-19 late in the third, but Lone Tree finished off the sweep with a 25-20 victory. 

Senior Ellen Carow said, “I think we really just played together as a team and did what we were supposed to do.”

Carow had six kills, two blocks and two aces for the Lady Lions in the win. Senior Kylie Patterson also had six kills. 

Lone Tree has had to deal with changing lineups this season due to injuries and illness and the Lady Lions have struggled with consistent play and finishing sets. 

“It was nice,” Carow said about finishing the sweep at home. “It feels good because it’s been a while, and we really needed that as a team.”

Junior Ella Buser led the Lady Lions with 17 assists, while junior Riley Krueger had a team-high seven kills and also added three aces in the win. 

Lone Tree had won just one out of the last 11 matches since sweeping Rivermont Collegiate on September 13. The Lady Lions were competitive in some of those losses, but needed a little more consistency to turn close sets into wins. 

“We really have been trying to emphasize getting away from so many free balls to our opponents, and staying aggressive the entire set instead of letting up, and I thought we did a better job of that last night,” Lone Tree coach Lora Sieverding said, “Another focus was energy from the entire team no matter what their role is at any given time. Attitudes, energy and aggressiveness were all very positive last night.”

Lone Tree opens the final week of the regular season at Highland on Tuesday October 12, before hosting Wapello  Thursday. 

The postseason begins on Monday, October 18. Lone Tree (6-18) will host a first-round matchup with English Valleys (5-19), with the winner facing No. 1 Notre Dame Burlington the following Wednesday.