Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

GRINNELL – Reese Naeve had waited nearly three seasons for an opportunity to play in a regional final.

When Naeve finally got that chance on Wednesday she made the decision she wasn’t going to let it slip away.

Naeve hammered a staggering 39 kills as eighth-ranked Regina downed ninth-ranked Pella Christian 25-15, 14-25, 25-11, 25-16 in the Class 2A, Region 8 title game at Grinnell High School.

“I just had a feeling where I was like, ‘we aren’t losing’,” Naeve said. “We made it this far I wasn’t going to let us fall short now. I’ve really wanted to go to state, that’s what I always wanted.”

Naeve had 24 kills in the final two sets as Regina (24-14) shrugged off a second-set loss to return to the state tournament for the first time since 2017.

Regina will face second-ranked Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont (34-2) in a 2A quarterfinal on Tuesday at 2:25 p.m. at Xtream Arena in Coralville.

“For the last two years we’ve always fell short to great teams and we’ve been waiting for this moment,” Naeve said. “Today my teammates really lifted me up and we all came into this day with such a positive attitude we knew we were going to win.”

Naeve has been excellent throughout her career.

The Iowa State had 1,042 kills through her first two seasons and entered Wednesday’s regional title game with a state-best 694 kills this season.

Naeve has never been better than she was on Wednesday.

“This is by far the best she has every played,” Regina coach Lauren Hansen said. “The mindset that she had coming into the game was I am not going to be stopped and I am going to after everything I can and she put everything she had into this tonight.”

Naeve had two kills during a 5-0 Regina run to open the match.

The dynamic 5-foot-8 junior had nine kills in a 25-15 opening-set win in which the Regals never trailed.

“It was so important to get the momentum in the first set,” Naeve said. “Once we are up you aren’t getting us down. We have the best coaching staff, the best team chemistry and we weren’t going down.”

Pella Christian (24-12) answered quickly in the second set using a 9-0 run to take control in what turned into a 25-14 second-set win for the Eagles.

Regina responded.

“We put the focus back on our side of the net,” Regina senior Caitlin Martin said. “I think we were worried about them so refocusing on us helped a lot.”

After Pella Christian scored the first two points of the third set Naeve started a 6-0 run with four straight kills.

Regina never trailed again as Naeve hammered 11 kills in the third set.

“I have accepted that she is super natural I think,” Martin said of Naeve. “She carries a lot of weight on our team and I’m super proud of how she has stepped up to the challenge this year.”

Naeve had three kills during a 7-0 Regina run to end the third set.

Sophomore setter Nora Wilhelm had an ace serving during the seven-point spurt to close the set.

Wilhelm finished with 46 assists in the win.

“I can’t give any more credit to my teammates,” Naeve said. “I just can’t appreciate them enough. We all lift each other up. My setter is amazing, she stepped into a role she hadn’t had to be in before and she has absolutely killed it.”

Regina rolled in the final set as Naeve remained red hot.

Naeve had 13 kills in the final set as Regina put the match away.

“She is so insane,” Wilhelm said. “No one is going to stop her she is that good.”

Brynn Roozeboom had 17 kills and Rachel Kacmarynski had 12 kills for Pella Christian.

Martin had 13 kills for Regina while Naeve added a pair of solo blocks for the Regals.

“It means a lot, senior year this has been a big dream of mine,” Martin said. “We hadn’t been to the state tournament for a while so this means a lot to us.”

Pella Christian                      15  25  11  16

Regina                                    25  14  25  25 

Pella Christian  (Kills-aces-blocks)

Faith Kacmarynski 1-0-0, Chloe Huisman 0-1-0, Claire Westerkamp 4-0-0, Maggie Heinen 1-0-0, Addison Bandstra 5-0-2, Addie Van Arendonk 10-0-0, Brynn Roozeboom 17-1-0, Rachel Kacmarynski 12-0-1, Totals 48-3-3.

Assists – Chloe Huisman 41

Regina (Kills-aces-blocks)

Adalee Klein 1-0-1, Reese Naeve 39-0-2, Addison Bollier 1-0-0, Caitlin Martin 13-1-0, Nora Wilhelm 0-1-0, Ruby Greving 1-0-0, Leah Sickels 0-0-1, Totals 55-3-4.

Assists – Nora Wilhelm 46

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