Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports 

WEST LIBERTY – Alex Wiese doesn’t believe there in such a thing as a perfectly played volleyball match.

The way Regina played on Tuesday was nearly enough for Wiese to waver on that belief.

Class 2A No. 11 Regina was next to perfect Tuesday, trailing for only two points in a 25-7, 25-18, 25-19 sweep of No. 12 Wilton (34-6) in the Class 2A, Region 8 title game at West Liberty.

“We played great, I don’t believe in the perfect game but we played out of our minds,” Wiese said. “We just never let up.”

Jaedynn Evans had a match-high 14 kills and Wiese added 12 as Regina (28-8) returned to the Class 2A state tournament for the third time in program history and first since 2013.

Regina will face defending state champion and second-ranked Western Christian (37-6) in a 2A state quarterfinal on Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids.

“For sure, 100 percent that is the best we have played all season,” Evans said. “That was without a doubt our best match.”

Regina picked the perfect time to play a near perfect match.

The Regals were impressive in all phases of the game finishing with a 40-16 edge in kills and a 9-1 advantage in ace serves.

Regina had four players with more than five kills but was perhaps most impressive defensively, limiting Wilton standout Aubrey Putman who ranked second in 2A with 482 kills entering the match to a postseason-low eight kills.

“We have spent so much time over the last month pushing our defense and our blocking and coverage to its limits every day,” first-year Regina head coach Jordyn Akers said. “The girls have worked really hard on it and they have done everything we’ve asked.”

The regular season meeting between the two River Valley Conference South Division rivals wasn’t decided until Regina pulled out a 16-14 win in the fifth set.

The rematch was never really in doubt.

Regina trailed only twice, at 1-0 in the opening set and 7-6 in the second while handing Wilton just its second loss in its final 17 losses.

“We had the energy tonight and we knew what we had to do to make it to state and that’s what we did tonight,” Regina senior setter Emily Bonnett said. “We played our best volleyball tonight.”

After Wilton scored the first point of the match Regina scored seven of the next eight, taking an 8-2 lead on back-to-back ace serves by Alexa Lehman.

Regina then put the opening match out of reach with a 9-0 run that featured three kills from Wiese and two from senior Katrina Chambliss.

“Considering the last time we played them it was super close the whole way it was a little surprising,” Wiese said of the opening set win. “We knew in our hearts that we could do it as long as we believed.”

Regina scored four or more consecutive points four times in the opening set and had runs of 6-0 and 9-0 in the 25-7 win.

Meanwhile, Wilton didn’t score more than two consecutive points in the opening set and had just one run of more than three straight points in the match.

“All year we have been pushing five-point runs, five-point runs but for us to come out and be able to get two sets of five-point runs in a row and game one being 25-7 was monumental for us,” Akers said. “We couldn’t have asked for a better start.”

Regina never let up.

The Regals trailed 7-6 early in the second set but pulled even on a Wiese kill and broke open an 8-all tie with four straight points.

Wilton never got closer than four points the rest of the way.

“We came in with the right mindset and never let up,” Wiese said. “We always played our game and we finished.”

Regina scored the first six points of the third set and never trailed.

Evans had eight of her match-high 14 kills in the third set as Regina secured the trip to state.

I’m surprised it wasn’t that close but we played the way that I knew that we could,” Bonnett said. “We kept it going throughout the whole match and that’s what you have to do against a great team.”

Regina            25  25  25

Wilton             7   18  19

(Kills-aces-blocks)

Regina

Alex Wiese 12-2-2, Emily Bonnett 0-2-0, Ellie VanLandschoot 5-0-0, Alexa Lehman 6-2-0, Clare Dunne 0-1-0, Jaedynn Evans 14-1-2, Katrina Chambliss 3-1-0, Team 40-9-4.

Assists – Emily Bonnett 27.

Wilton

Kortney Drake 2-0-0, Taylor Goldermann 4-0-2, Alexis Mauerer 0-1-0, Kallie Poor 1-0-0, Emily Lange 1-0-1, Aubrey Putman 8-0-1, Team 16-1-4.

Assists – Kallie Poor 14.