All pistons fire for No. 1 Springville in a state volleyball first-round rout

CORALVILLE — Of course they weren’t perfect. But for the first two sets, the Springville Orioles were in the neighborhood.

“We couldn’t be more efficient than that,” Kennady Breitfelder said. “We found a way to score on all balls.”

Top-ranked Springville didn’t commit an attack error until its 39th swing of the match, hit an astronomical .510 through the first two sets and swept Oakland Riverside (25-8, 25-8, 25-17) in a 52-minute Class 1A quarterfinal at the state volleyball tournament Tuesday evening at Xtream Arena.

“We were freaking efficient tonight,” Orioles Coach Claude Howard said. “The girls followed the game plan.”

The result was devastation. Springville (38-3) didn’t face a deficit all match, and marched into Wednesday’s semifinal opposite No. 7 Ankeny Christian (37-3).

First serve is 6 p.m.

“I’m so proud of everybody,” setter Nia Howard said. “I can’t say enough about our hitters. I love them so much.”

The Orioles needed to rally from a two-set deficit to scrape by New London in a regional final. But Tuesday was clear skies and smooth seas.

The first four points consisted of kills by Rowan Jacobi and Breitfelder and a pair of aces by Molly Stamp.

“Against New London, we didn’t use our middles enough,” Coach Howard said. “I told the girls, we need to start that way. Let’s fire away from the middle, and Rowan struck that first ball.”

Springville had scoring runs of four, four, four and six points in Game 1, then three, seven, five and six in Game 2.

Through two sets, the Orioles had 26 kills — against one single error — in 49 swings.

Simply a clinic in offensive efficiency.

“It was fun,” Lily Clark said. “We were getting everything down. With each ball, we got more and more excited.”

Breitfelder swatted 14 kills and enjoyed a lofty .481 success rate. Stamp added eight kills and 10 digs. Clark posted seven (without an error in a .636 performance).

Nia Howard piloted it all with 29 assists, and Ashlynne Zaruba collected 14 digs.

Riverside (33-6) was making its first state appearance. The Bulldogs upset No. 3 Le Mars Gehlen in a regional final, but Springville was too good — too efficient — Tuesday.

Not perfect. But certainly in the neighborhood.

“About as well as we’ve played all year,” Coach Howard said. “Now, how can we bottle that and do it again two more times?”

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com