Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Earlier this month Regina found itself in need of a boost.

A 1-4 performance at the West High tournament that featured four losses to ranked opponents combined with back-to-back River Valley Conferences losses to Wilton and Tipton left the Regals in a 1-6 rut.

Regina got exactly what it needed in the form of a four-set road win over 2A seventh-ranked Hudson last Thursday.

“Our win at Hudson really changed the year for us,” Regina senior Lyla Chandler said. “It’s a whole new team and the energy is amazing in the gym right now.”

Led by Chandler the Regals picked up right where they left off on Tuesday.

Chandler hammered a match-high 20 kills as Class 2A No. 11 Regina posted an efficient 25-19, 25-23, 25-21 of Mid-Prairie in an RVC South Division tilt in Iowa City.

“We had a rough few weeks I think we turned it around at Hudson last week,” Regina coach Lauren Hansen said. “We played for each other that night and it was good volleyball, not great, and then I think tonight we played super clean, there were little to no errors.”

Freshman Lexi Gaffey had seven kills and Jada Wiltz and Adalee Klein each had six kills as Regina improved to 13-10 and 3-2 in RVC South Division play.

However, this match was all about Chander for Regina as the senior was all but unstoppable from the outset.

“Where I thought we executed the best was trying to get Lyla going because she had the perfect matchup,” Hansen said. “Every single match we play a different person is going to be hot and its just how we do we make sure we are feeding that right person and we are executing a game plan and tonight I thought we were flawless there.”

Chandler had five kills in the opening set but got help early, specifically from Klein who had all six of her kills in a 25-19 first-set win for the Regals.

That was just the start for Chandler.

The 5-foot-10 senior hammered 10 kills in the second set as Regina overcame a 14-13 deficit to take control of the match.

“As a team we take a long time to identify the teams we are playing against, we watch a lot of film and I know some of those girls from club,” Chandler said. “I knew as long as I was confident and I was able to swing and hit places that I could execute.”

With the second set tied 20-20 Chandler had back-to-back kills to cap a 3-0 Regina spurt that put the Regals up 23-20.

Mid-Prairie (11-10, 2-3) got as close as 23-22 but another Chandler kill pushed the lead back to 24-22 and Regina clinched the set on a Golden Hawk hitting error.

“I think it took her some time to find confidence and I think she truly has found it now,” Hansen said. “We want her to go, we want her to take the big rips and I think she has found her confidence and she is just swinging and she is seeing the court really well.”

Chandler had five more kills in the third set as Regina closed out the sweep.

“I think we can definitely be a better team, I have really high standards for this team I think this is one of the best games we’ve played all year,” Chandler said. “We just really wanted to dial it down tonight and push out a win and we did.”

Regina takes its two-match winning streak to Lisbon (17-7) on Thursday before heading to the Waterloo Columbus tournament on Saturday.

“We’ve talked a lot in our gym that it is now go time,” Hansen said. “Pairings come out next week, what do we need to do to make sure we are in the right position and I think we’ve seen it in our gym and our practices have gotten better, the girls mentalities have gotten better and how they are coming together and I love to see it.”

Mid-Prairie               19  23  21

Regina                        25  25  25

Mid-Prairie (Kills-aces-blocks)

Tessa Bombei 7-0-0, Lydia Witthoft 1-0-0, Jeorgia Evans 15-0-0, Claire Trimpe 0-2-0, Kinsley Gingerich 0-1-0, Ashlee Statler 6-0-1, Sierra Crowner 4-0-3, Morgyn Bender 4-0-1, Jaycee Flynn 4-0-1, Totals 41-3-6

Assists – Claire Trimpe 18, Lydia Witthoft 16

Regina (Kills-aces-blocks)

Lexi Gaffey 7-0-0, Jada Wiltz 6-0-1, Adalee Klein 6-0-1, Addison Bollier 1-1-0, Lyla Chandler 20-01, Nora Wilhelm 3-1-0, Totals 43-2-3.

Assists – Nora Wilhelm 34, Addison Bollier 4

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