The Turkey Valley Trojans had a lot to be proud of this fall but they ultimately watched their season end on Monday night against No. 2 St. Ansgar.
The Trojans – who reached the semifinal round of Class 1A for the first time since 2020 – bowed out in style versus those favored Saints.
St. Ansgar was pushed to the limit in the final set, but ended up sweeping TV by scores of 25-19, 25-11 and 25-23.
The Saints (26-6) took on unranked North Iowa (27-5) in the Class 1A, Region 3 Final in Mason City on Wednesday.
“We had a great attitude coming in and we really wanted an upset.” Obviously something doesn’t always go our way,” said Trojan co-head coach Ashley Walz. “We had great power and movement in that first and third set.”
Turkey Valley (18-15) – the last Upper Iowa Conference squad standing in the third round of regional play – was looking to advance to within one match of state. TV hadn’t done that since 2015, according to co-head coach Tammy Vrzak.
TV put up some fight in the opening set, closing to down just 21-17 after an Addison Steinlage point. The Saints responded, though, by coming up with kills from Jacey Johnston, Ava Falk and Lindsay Kruse to close out game one.
In the final set the Trojans went on a 5-0 run to lead 11-5 after sophomore middle Ella Ives’ block. Trojan senior Layni Schuchhardt’s kill made it 16-12, but Saint Ansgar would end up tying the contest at 17-17. Another 5-0 Trojan run gave TV a 22-17 lead, but back-to-back kills from Johnston kept the Saints close, down just 22-19. Kinsey Reicks’ kill brought TV to within two points of forcing a fourth game, the Trojans now up 23-21. But Johnston answered the call by reigning down with a kill and then later on in the match Amelia Porisch’s ace brought the Saints to within match point, up 24-23. A Trojan shot wide ended the match and the season for TV.
“The third game was phenomenal. We couldn’t have asked for a better team to be out there,” said Walz. “They tried as much as they possibly could.”
TV seniors who played the final match of their careers were Reicks, Schuchhardt, Morgan Vsetecka, Delaney Busta and Alexis Elsbernd.
Round 2
The Turkey Valley Trojans had a block party in Nashua on Wednesday, Oct. 23.
The Trojan volleyball squad played their best match of the year in a convincing 25-20, 25-23 and 25-19 sweep at Nashua-Plainfield in last week’s Class 1A, Region 3 quarterfinal round.
The productive outcome – which saw TV’s front row frustrate the Husky hitters near the net with 12 team blocks – helped Ashley Walz’s Upper Iowa Conference squad move on to the semifinal round where it took on No. 2 St. Ansgar (25-6).
“Our blocking was the biggest thing for the night,” said Walz. “We knew coming into the game from the previous tournament that we could block their middle and shut their middle down and force them to be in the tipping game. We worked really hard on tip coverage this week in practice even though it was one day in between.”
“Our energy was there the entire time,” said TV sophomore middle Ella Ives.
Ives – who joined the varsity roster midseason – has had a tremendous impact for the Trojans up front. Her size – she’s listed at 6 feet tall – was an issue for the slower moving Husky front row. She came up with four blocks, as did senior middle Delaney Busta.
The Trojans seemed to be firing on all cylinders as a 6-0 run gave TV a 21-14 lead after an Ives block.
“As a libero it’s so fun to see my front row get blocks,” said Trojan senior Morgan Vsetecka. “It’s the biggest hype thing I think.”
Vsetecka led TV with 16 digs and came up with one of TV’s six aces. TV junior setter Addison Steinlage and senior Layni Schuchhardt each racked up two aces.
“When your season’s on the line there’s always a little bit more activeness,” said Vsetecka.
TV’s serving efficiency was the best in the UIC during the regular season and the Trojans proved that once again on Wednesday as they served 70-for-74 – almost 95 percent.
Steinlage’s distribution of her passes was also key as she tallied 28 assists and was 16-for-17 serving. That miss in her service game was only the third service error this fall as she’s 352-for-355 – good for the second-best clip in the entire state, regardless of class.
Steinlage served out the game-two win – which was the most competitive set of the evening – with one of those two aces.
TV trailed 8-4 in the final set but didn’t back down and rose to the occasion to erase any thought of the Huskies extending the match past the required three games.
Schuchhardt, along with junior Annika Bodensteiner and senior Kinsey Reicks, were active all night and kept applying the pressure up front. N-P had no answer for the trio’s steady play near the net. Schuchhardt led TV with 11 kills, while Bodensteiner and Reicks each tallied six kills apiece.
Longtime Trojan coach Tammy Vrzak – who is co-head coach along with Walz – praised her team for the clutch performance in crunch time.
“We definitely played the best game of the season so far. The girls had it all: hitting, blocking, digging, and serving. They were in-sync,” said Vrzak.
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