Davenport Assumption overcomes errors to beat Osage in state volleyball quarterfinals

CORALVILLE — Davenport Assumption freshman Ellah Derrer didn’t looked anything like a player taking part in her first state volleyball tournament.

The 6-foot-2 Ferer is the lesser known of the Knights’ two big hitters. Senior Ava Schubert, a Tennessee Tech commit, draws most of the attention from the opposition. She had her usual big numbers in Tuesday's Class 3A quarterfinal match with No. 7 Osage, pounding home 22 kills.

But it was the inspired play of Derrer, especially at critical moments, that allowed No. 2 Assumption (31-7) to advance with a 25-22, 19-25, 25-15, 32-30 victory at Xtream Arena.

“She takes freshman classes, but she is playing a lot older than a freshman,” said first-year Assumption coach Frank Flanagan. “She's a high-level club player so the environment is new, but the level of volleyball certainly isn't new for her.”

On a day when the Knights struggled from behind the service line with 19 missed serves, Derrer came up big, especially in the fourth set. With her team down 22-20, she came up with two straight kills to tie the set.

“I was super nervous at first,” Derrer said. “My teammates were really supportive throughout the whole match and that really helped me to relax.”

Derrer finished with 15 kills and hit at .565.

After the teams split the first two sets, it appeared Osage might be primed for the upset. The Green Devils bolted out to a 13-8 lead in the third set, only to see the Knights rattle off a 17-2 run to take a 2-1 lead.

In the fourth set, after Derrer's heroics tied things up, it was back and forth the rest of the way. Osage had seven set points and Assumption three before the Knights put it away on a kill from Maggie Johnson.

Derrer believes the Knights will be a better team in their semifinal match on Wednesday.

“I really hope we can limit our errors because we had way too many today,” she said. “That is very uncharacteristic of the way we usually play. I think we will be much better with that in our next match.”

The Knights also got 11 kills each from Johnson and Dru Dorsey. Ellie Schubert had 63 assists while Maddie Dobbels had 21 digs. For Osage, which closes at 29-7, Claudia Aschenbrenner led the offense with 12 kills.