Balance carries Springville to the brink of another state volleyball tournament

SPRINGVILLE — This didn’t happen by accident.

“(Balance) is what we live on,” Springville Coach Claude Howard said. “We try to put kids in position to score points.”

Lots of kids.

Balanced, deep and experienced, top-ranked Springville swept Central City (25-23, 25-12, 25-19) in a Class 1A volleyball regional semifinal Monday night at Machovec Gymnasium.

“We don’t have one or two good hitters,” said setter Nia Howard, who climbed past the 3,000-assist milestone for her distinguished career. “We have everybody. It’s important to distribute so the other team doesn’t know where we’re going.”

Here’s where they’re going now — back to the regional finals. The Orioles (36-3) will face No. 12 New London (28-9) on Wednesday at West Liberty, with a state-tournament berth on the line.

Springville is gunning for its eighth state trip in the last 10 years. It was the 1A runner-up last year.

None of the Orioles had more than 10 kills Monday, but six of them had five or more.

“(Central City) switched their lineup a little, and they didn’t have a lot of height at the net,” Springville’s Lily Clark said. “Everybody had their ‘A’ game tonight.”

It took a little while for that game to take hold. Central City (20-13) jetted to a 12-7 lead in the first set before the Orioles got clicking.

“Two things we needed to do was to block and serve-receive,” Coach Howard said. “We didn’t do those things well in the first set. That’s when a team that’s fighting for their life will clip you.”

“Once we got our passes, we were able to get the balls down,” Clark said.

A pair of six-point surges — aided by some Central City errors — triggered the Orioles. The second one broke a 17-17 tie, and the Orioles held on to win the set despite eight kills by the Wildcats’ Ali Fritcher.

Springville played from ahead throughout the last two sets. At one point, two Orioles had five kills and four others had four.

Kennady Breitfelder finished with 10 to lead the winners. Molly Stamp finished with nine, Clark seven, Howard six (and 26 assists), freshman Rowan Jacobi six, Hannah March five.

After it was over, the Orioles stood by a wall for photos. Nia Howard was presented with a sign for her 3,000th assist, Stamp for her 500th kill.

Then it was more pictures at the net for the seniors, who have lifted this program to an unprecedented level.

“When we were in our huddle after the match, I started crying,” Nia Howard said. “I didn’t think this day would come.”

Kudos to Central City. In the 12 seasons prior to 2020, the Wildcats didn’t have a single campaign with double-digit wins. Now, they’ve completed back-to-back 20-win seasons, and six of eight players of their rotation Monday return next year, including Coletta Wade (11 kills), Bailee Weber (10 kills) and Belle Whitson (30 assists).

Springville 3, Central City 0

(25-23, 25-12, 25-19)

CLASS 1A REGIONAL SEMIFINAL, AT SPRINGVILLE

Serving: Central City 48-55 (.872), Springville 71-74 (.959)

Aces: Central City 6 (Cami Ellis 2), Springville 2 (Hannah March 2)

Kills: Central City 33 (Coletta Wade 11), Springville 43 (Kennady Breitfelder 10)

Assists: Central City 33 (Belle Whitson 30), Springville 36 (Nia Howard 26)

Blocks: Central City 1 (Whitson), Springville 6 (Rowan Jacobi, Lily Clark 3)

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com