Osage sweeps, shoves its way to the 3A state volleyball semifinals

CEDAR RAPIDS - Make a play, pay the price.

Such is life as a member of the Osage Green Devils.

The result of a kill is more than just a point. More often than not, the attacker gets attacked with a not-so-light shove from a teammate or two.

'We came up with it to create more energy,” Claudia Aschenbrenner said. 'We started it in club volleyball, and it translated here.”

Love shoves were frequent in Monday's Class 3A quarterfinal at the state volleyball tournament; top-ranked Osage swept No. 10 Humboldt, 25-16, 25-20, 25-11, at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse.

'Everybody loves it,” Paige Kisley said. 'It's our way of telling somebody that they just did something really good.”

The Green Devils (32-2) needed a big push - and the resulting shoves - in the first two sets, rolled in the third, and advanced to face either No. 4 Davenport Assumption or No. 5 Unity Christian in a semifinal at 3 p.m. Wednesday. Assumption (22-2) and Unity (23-5) play their quarterfinal at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Humboldt (33-4) rallied from an early deficit to tie the opener, 14-14. and the Wildcats were within 16-15 when Aschenbrenner went off. She had four kills in an eight-point surge to get the Green Devils to set point, then added one more to clinch the set.

'We had to get going, keep moving forward,” Aschenbrenner said.

The second set was even more tricky. Humboldt surged to a 20-16 lead, then Osage stormed back with nine points in a row to win it.

'We trust each other,” Kisley said. 'We looked at each other and said, ‘We need to take care of business here.'”

Game 3 was a no-doubter after Osage scored six in a row for a 12-5 lead.

Danielle Johnson led the Green Devils with 13 kills, Aschenbrenner added 12 (six in the first set), and Kisley collected 11. That boosted Osage to a 48-25 advantage in kills, and lots and lots of shoves.

They didn't all occur without a hitch.

'I pushed Danielle once too hard,” Aschenbrenner said, and Kisley pointed out that Meredith Street ended on the court after one celebration.

'It's all good,” Kisley said.

Ellie Bobinet counted 38 assists.

For Humboldt, Kendal Clark led the way with 11 kills.

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