Libby Fandel crosses the 1,000-kill mark for her career; Xavier tops Liberty

CEDAR RAPIDS — Libby Fandel underwent an unintended numeric transformation.

“(No. 13) wasn’t my size in the new uniforms,” Fandel said of her traditional uniform number, which she swapped out this fall for No. 3. “Thirteen was a little too big.

“Don’t worry, I’ll have it back for basketball.”

Speaking of numbers, consider this one: 1,000.

Fandel crossed the 1,000-kill threshold for her career, knocking down 17 Tuesday night as Class 4A top-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier topped 5A No. 7 Iowa City Liberty in a four-set MVC Mississippi Division volleyball match at Ron Thillen Gymnasium.

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Photos: Iowa City Liberty at Cedar Rapids Xavier volleyball

Set scores were 25-17, 24-26, 25-15 and 26-24.

A senior two-sport star (she recently committed to play basketball at Kansas), Fandel was made aware of her achievement by a hand- crafted sign in the stands afterward.

“I just found out,” she said after pushing her career total to 1,010. “All of the setters I’ve had, they’ve all been really great. And you’ve got to have good passes to get those good sets.”

The Saints (2-0 overall, 2-0 division) are working in a new setter in junior Josie Smith. She looked like a veteran Tuesday, distributing 49 assists and converting 21 serves without a miss.

“Playing varsity this year, it’s such a big difference,” Smith said. “The coaches told me that most of the difference is mental.

“We have great hitters. It’s my job to learn how to connect with them.”

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Liberty (2-4, 0-1) was on the cusp of forcing a fifth set. A pair of kills by Ava Meidlinger highlighted a four-point surge that put the Bolts in front 24-23 in the fourth.

But a kill by Xavier’s Ava Van Berkum tied the set, Taylor Rexroth’s kill got the Saints to match point and Kaitlin Rollinger’s ace ended it.

Xavier served 15 aces, Liberty two.

Fandel had three of them in a six-point swing that gave the Saints a 22-18 lead.

“You’ve got to have the confidence to swing hard and take a chance,” she said.

Xavier cruised the first and third sets. Liberty scored the tie-breaking two points in Game 2 on a kill by Asta Hildebrand and a block by Ashlyn Nordell.

Hildebrand posted 19 kills and 17 assists for the Lightning.

Carley Jonker and Macie Lupkes added 11 kills apiece for Xavier.

Cedar Rapids Xavier 3, Iowa City Liberty 1

(25-17, 24-26, 25-15, 26-24)

At C.R. Xavier

Serving: Liberty 74-83 (.892), Xavier 89-98 (.908)

Aces: Liberty 2 (Edie Miller, Sydney Van Heukelom), Xavier 15 (Izzie McDonald 4)

Kills: Liberty 47 (Asta Hildebrand 19), Xavier 52 (Libby Fandel 17)

Assists: Liberty 42 (Hildebrand, Hadley Miller 17), Xavier 50 (Josie Smith 49)

Blocks: Liberty 11 (Ashlyn Nordell 5), Xavier 10 (Fandel, Macie Lupkes 3)

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com