Gehlen Catholic bowed out of the Class 1A state volleyball tournament with a 3-2 loss at the hands of #12 North Tama.
It was evident by looking at the box score that Gehlen Catholic and North Tama did not play a clean match. The Jays and Redhawks combined to commit 65 attacking errors, nine service errors, 15 receiving errors, and four blocking errors. Gehlen Catholic Head Coach Mike Meyer says that those physical mistakes led to mental mistakes creeping in for his players.
The offensive numbers for Gehlen will not stand out on the box score. The Jays hit for an efficiency of .079 with 50 kills and 35 attacking errors. Coach Meyer says this was the result of his team struggling to develop a rhythm offensively.
Poor play aside from both teams, the match was very entertaining. It took five sets to decide and it appeared Gehlen would lose the fifth before it began. The Jays trailed 7-2 and had to burn both of their timeouts in the set. That’s when the Jays went on a seven-point run to go up two. It appeared Gehlen would hang on. As Coach Meyer points out, those unforced errors reared their ugly head late in the fifth.
The Jays say goodbye to a great senior class: Lauren Heying, Rylee Schnepf, Larissa Sitzmann, Olivia Bunkers, and Alyssa Kolbeck. While it’s sad to see them leave, Coach Meyer recognizes that they have ended all four of their years at Gehlen at the state volleyball tournament.
The Jays finish the year at 25-6 overall. North Tama moves on to play Springville in the semifinals.
