NEW SHARON – North Mahaska rallied from a first set loss and held off a tenacious New London team to score a 3-1 victory over the No. 8 team in Class 1A. North Mahaska lost the opener 25-22, then ripped off three straight 25-18, 25-20 and 25-17.
Although serving was a challenge at the time for North Mahaska the Warhawks earned 17 aces along the way to just six for New London. Throughout the match NM was able to build leads only to see New London rally back.
In the first set North Mahaska built an 18-12 lead. New London’s Tysann Gipple served up nine unanswered points including an ace to put the Tigers up 21-19 when NM earned a sideout. The team’s traded points on sideouts until North Mahaska setter Ally Livezey scored an ace to pull the Warhawks to 24-22. New London was able to score the winning point to close out the set.
New London edged out in front in set two, a set that would see the Warhawks score six service aces. The Tigers led 10-8 when North Mahaska’s Abby Van Weelden stepped in to serve and knocked down a pair of aces to tie the set at 11-11. The Warhawks took advantage of misplays by NL and slowly pulled away for the win.
In the third set NM was on cruise control leading 18-8, but the Tigers showed why they have a preseason ranking as they answered the bell to close the NM lead to 19-16 before the Warhawks earned a sideout. New London tied the set at 19-19 and a gain at 20 but Livezey was able to lead the Warhawks to the win serving the final four points.
“To say I’m proud of these girls is an understatement,” NM coach Erica Groom said via Facebook. “We came into this game as the underdog, but our girls never let up. They played well, let mistakes go, and worked hard.”
The final set began as the others had with each team scoring a point at a time. NL had serving errors as well and North Mahaska jumped from an 8-6 advantage to 12-7 behind the serving of Sydney Andersen, who popped in two aces. The Tigers would pull back to within two points but could not break the NM offensive thrust.
“It feels good to beat the No. 8 ranked team, but we won’t let up.” Said Groom. “We are back at it for practice to prepare for the next game.”
