The #3 (2A) Dike-New Hartford volleyball team was denied a marquee top five win falling 3-0 at #1 (2A) Denver on Tuesday. The Cyclones won by set scores of 25-11, 25-15 and 25-22.
In the first set, after a tie at four, Denver went on a 7-0 run to go up 11-4. The Cyclones never led by less than six for the remainder of the set to go up 1-0. In the second set, after a tie at six, the Cyclones scored 11 of the next 15 points to go up 17-10 and put the set away from there to go up 2-0 in the match. A back and fourth third set featured 10 different ties, including a tie at 22 late in the set. From that point, the Cyclones went on 3-0 run to capture the match win and remain undefeated. DNH Head Coach Diane Harms shares what she saw during a competitive third set and the performance of top attackers Rylee Reicks and Abby Jensen.
“Our girls battled really hard that third set. We kept it tight, kept it close. We just didn’t make a couple of plays when we needed to make those plays. Hats off to them, they’re a quality program. They have a lot of seniors leading their way, so they did a nice job of keeping the pressure on tonight,” says Harms. “They’ve done a nice job all season for us. Abby does a great job of leadership for us. Riley can really get going there in the middle for us. She kind of came alive there towards that second, third set for us. We need to get her involved a little earlier and going a little sooner.”
Reicks had seven kills and Jensen recorded six kills to lead the Wolverines.
Dike-New Hartford (20-5, 2-1 NICL-Central) will compete at the Iowa City Liberty tournament on Saturday.
