Right-side attack fuels Anamosa to 3A first-round sweep of Waukon

ANAMOSA -- The play is called “Zero.”

The result is anything but.

“It’s fast,” Anamosa right-side hitter Olivia Miller said. “Not many teams can get back on it.”

Anamosa feasted on “Zero” to the tune of 12 Miller kills, and the 14th-ranked Blue Raiders swept Waukon (25-16, 25-17, 25-19) in a Class 3A volleyball quarterfinal Tuesday night at Anamosa High School.

Setter Sophie Sander pushed her career assist total past 3,000, and the Blue Raiders (25-11) advance to face No. 11 West Delaware (29-11) in a regional semifinal Thursday at Manchester. The Hawks were straight-set victors over Oelwein.

“We’ve been a little more under-the-radar this year,” Anamosa Coach Tierra Knapper said. “We changed our schedule a lot this year, getting into some tougher tournaments.

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“We wanted some tougher competition, and we needed to learn how to lose, even when we were playing our game.”

It took a while, but the strategy paid off. Anamosa captured the championship of the River Valley Conference tournament last week, and will be a tough out in the postseason.

Not bad for a program that graduated its top three attackers from last season’s 32-8 regional-final squad.

“Last year, we focused on our talent,” said Sander, a gifted distributor who has committed to Division-II Fort Hays State University. “Now it’s more on mindset, things we can control. We visualize winning, visualize making good plays.”

Tuesday, in real life, the Blue Raiders did both.

For many teams, a right-side hitter is primarily a decoy. Miller is a weapon, leading the Blue Raiders in kills this season, and had a team-high 12 in this match. Freshman Johanna Shaffer added 10.

Sander distributed 30 assists.

“We just run a really fast offense,” Sander said. “I try to get Olivia the ball as fast as possible.”

Anamosa closed fast in each of the first two sets. The Blue Raiders scored the final five points of Game 1, then pulled away from an 18-17 margin with the last seven of Game 2.

They didn’t trail by more than one point at any juncture of the match.

In the finale, Anamosa shot to a 7-1 lead. After Waukon (26-7) got within 10-9, the Blue Raiders jetted away again with five in a row.

Waukon entered the match with 13 consecutive victories. Willa Troendle paced the Indians with eight kills.

Anamosa 3, Waukon 0

(25-16, 25-17, 25-19)

Class 3A Regional Quarterfinal, at Anamosa

Serving: Waukon 45-53 (.849), Anamosa 70-73 (.959)

Aces: Waukon 5 (Mariesa Gibbs 3), Anamosa 9 (four with 2)

Kills: Waukon 24 (Willa Troendle 8), Anamosa 34 (Olivia Miller 12)

Assists: Waukon 24 (Kaylin Regan 18), Anamosa 33 (Sophie Sander 30)

Blocks: Waukon 4 (four with 1), Anamosa 4 (Miller 2)

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com