Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – With 11 days between the regular of the regular season and the start of postseason play Regina had plenty of time to implement a game plan for its regional opener.

It turned out less planning proved to be the perfect plan for the Regals.

Regina skipped the in-depth scouting a complex game planning for its Class 2A, Region 6 quarterfinal against Columbus on Monday and focused instead on having fun.

The result was a 25-12, 25-15, 25-20 sweep that sends Regina (7-28) into the Region 6 semifinals on Thursday.

“If there is anything that we’ve learned over the last couple of months it’s that we play a lot better when we are loose,” Regina coach Brandon Mills said. “We didn’t do a lot of strategizing or a lot of talk about crazy defenses we just wanted to come in loose and have fun.”

Regina closed the regular season going 2-1 at the River Valley Conference tournament on October 17.

In the 11 days that followed the Regals rested and focused on themselves rather than any postseason opponent.

After a long regular season that produced six wins the goal for the postseason was to have fun.

Regina achieved that goal on Monday in its first three-set sweep of the season.

“We really focused on communication and working together as a team and just having fun,” Regina senior Maya Kerschen said. “We think having fun really helps us when we play and that’s a big part of how we play so we worked a lot on that.”

Sophomore Lilly Simpson led three Regina players with at least seven kills with a match-high 10 as the Regals advanced to take on No. 10 Hudson in Region 6 semifinal on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Hudson.

“It was all about playing our own game and being loose and being ourselves,” Mills said. “We said the same thing for Thursday we are going to talk for about 30 seconds about what Hudson is going to do and the rest of the time is going to be about what we do on our side of the net.”

The fun started early for the Regals in its postseason opener.

Regina took control of the opening set with a 5-0 run that gave the Regals a 6-2 lead and then scored 12 of the next 14 points to open up an 18-5 cushion.

One of four seniors on the team, Kerschen had four of her seven kills in the opening set.

“I think we really starting to pull together and find what works for us,” Kerschen said. “I think that’s showing on the court.”
Regina trailed 8-5 in the second set but used a 6-0 run to take a 12-9 lead it would never give up.

Columbus (6-23) got as close as 12-11 but Regina ended the set on a 5-0 run fueled by a Nola Murhammer ace serve.  

“We talked a lot about just having fun,” Lilly Simpson said. “Coming into this game we knew we still had to work hard and come together as a team and we could get through it.”

Regina trailed 8-5 early in the third set but again took control to earn the sweep.

Regina used a 6-1 run late to turn a 17-16 lead into a 23-17 advantage that would never be challenged.

“We had a lot of time to come together and work things out,” Simpson said. “As a team I think we got closer and we were able to work better together tonight.”

Regina had nine ace serves, three coming from Murhammer, in the win and finished with a 32-10 edge in kills.

“That’s been a big thing that we have worked into our practices is being aggressive all the time,” Kerschen said. “In any drill we do we work on swinging and being aggressive.”

Regina will trying to keep the fun going on Thursday against Hudson (29-7) which enters riding a seven-match winning streak after a quarterfinal sweep of Colfax-Mingo on Monday.

“We go in to have fun but we also go in expecting to win,” Simpson said. “If we go in and try our best we know the outcome can go our way.”

Regina            25  25  25

Columbus       12  15  20

Regina

(Kills-aces-blocks)

Nola Murhammer 0-3-0, Claire Conlon 1-0-0, Hope Simpson 8-1-0, Elly Gahan 3-0-0, Sarah Martin 0-1-0, Lillian Simpson 10-1-0, Annie Gahan 4-2-1, Maya Kerschen 7-0-0, Team 32-9-1.

Assists – Allison Dillon 14, Hannah Brandt 6

Columbus

(Kills-aces-blocks)

Victoria Howell 2-0-0, Olivia Carrier 1-0-0, Kayla Beenen 5-2-0, Michelle Diaz 2-0-1, Team 10-2-1.

Assists – Taylor Howell 5, Emma Milder 1

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