Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – With the state’s kill leader the past two seasons Reese Naeve off to Iowa State there was no question the Regina attack was going to look different this season.

Without Naeve and her 2,525 careers gone the Regals have leaned on their offensive balance early this season.

The balanced attack was ultra effective on Thursday.

Four different Regals had at least five kills as Class 2A eighth-ranked Regina swept Durant 25-22, 25-19, 25-21 in the River Valley Conference South Division opener for both teams in Iowa City.

“Something we’ve talked about early on is we have to be diverse in our offense,” Regina coach Lauren Hansen said. “Before (senior setter) Nora (Wilhelm) was making one set all the time and now she has to make sure she is getting her hitters one-on-ones and I felt like for the most part our offense tonight was spread out really well and she made really good decisions.”

For the balanced offensive attack to come together the Regals needed a few players to step up.

Several Regals have done just that.

Freshman Lexi Gaffey hammered a team-high 14 kills on Thursday and sophomore Jada Wiltz, who had 52 kills last season, added 13 kills as Regina improved to 7-1.

“Spreading our offense just widens the range for kills,” Wiltz said. “I think we do a great job on our team with our hitter-setter connections.”

Wilhelm, a three-year starter at setter is the one that makes it all go.

On Thursday Wilhelm had 35 assists and added two kills and two ace serves while distributing the ball to her teammates.

Senior middle Adalee Klein had six kills while senior Lyla Chandler added five kills as Regina held a 41-26 edge in kills.

“For me it’s just about making sure all our hitters are confident and ready to slam the ball,” Wilhelm said. “It’s amazing I have so many options. We can run so many different combinations, honestly it’s so fun. I can push it pin to pin, we can go middle in transition, it’s great.”

Durant (3-3) led early in each of the first two sets but Regina used strong finishes to take a comfortable early lead.

The Wildcats led 8-4 in the opener set before Regina used an 11-2 run to take a 15-10 lead it would never give up.

“The nerves got to us a little in the starts but we stuck together as a team,” Wiltz said. “We calmed ourselves and we knew we could trust each other.”

In the second set Durant led 10-4 before Regina rattled off an 8-1 run to take a 12-11 lead.

Durant led 14-13 but Regina scored 10 of the next 12 points to take control.

“We got in the swing of things more,” Wilhelm said. “We were a little timid in the beginning of sets because this is our first real match but as it went on we got confidence and we learned how to defend their shots and put a ball down.”

Wiltz had seven of her 13 kills in the second set as Regina took a two sets to none lead.

Gaffey had six kills in a 25-21 Regina win in the third set that completed the sweep.

Kylie Mattoon had three of Regina’s seven ace serves and Chandler added a pair of blocks.

“Our motto is be good not perfect,” Hansen said. “I think sometimes we try so much to be perfect and our good is better than most people’s perfect. If we can stay calm and make those plays in those moments that’s all that matters.”

Durant            22  19  21

Regina            25  25  25

Regina (Kills-aces-blocks)

Kylie Mattoon 1-3-0, Lexi Gaffey 14-0-0, Adalee Klein 6-0-1, Jada Wiltz 13-1-0, Margaret White 0-1-0, Lyla Chandler 5-0-2, Nora Wilhelm 2-2-0, Leah Sickels 0-0-1, Totals 41-7-4.

Assists – Nora Wilhelm 35, Kylie Mattoon 2

Durant (Kills-aces-blocks)

Ally Meincke 1-0-0, Alaina Lawlor 1-0-0, Isla Petersen 0-1-0, Kendall Dierickx 3-0-0, Mazie Timmerman 10-2-0, Allison Toft 11-3-2, Totals 26-6-2.

Assists – Kendall Dierickx 21

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