By Kerri Rempp
Sioux County Schools PIO
The Crawford-Sioux County Rams-Warriors kicked off the sports co-op with a 1-1 start on the volleyball court.
The Rams-Warriors hosted their home opener in Crawford against Hay Springs Saturday. Hay Springs came out on top 3-1 in a competitive game that saw the teams trading leads and tied for much of the contest.
Crawford-Sioux County took their first lead 2-1 on an ace serve by Ada Norman but the teams then traded leads a handful of times and saw the score knotted up 10 times through set point 13. Through that stretch, the teams hammered out 10 consecutive kills to sideout. Tallee Rudloff terminated three times for the Rams-Warriors, while Norman and Peyton Osmotherly each added one in the battle to take a commanding lead.
The Hawks took a 16-13 lead on back-to-back plays that resulted in two kills and block and controlled the tempo through the end of the set, taking a 25-18 victory.
In the second set, the Rams-Warriors jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, capitalizing on Hawk errors and a Leah Holmgren kill. Two Crawford-Sioux County hitting errors, an ace serve and two kills by Hay Springs shifted the advantage to the Hawks, 5 -4. The teams again went point-for point, tying the score several times through set point 9, with Norman scoring on a kill and Kylee Osmotherly landing an ace serve.
The Hawks edged again when Devyn Young blocked Holmgren and then terminated on the next two plays for a 12-9 Hawk lead. Crawford-Sioux County clawed back in with a kill by Sarai Munoz-Salazar and two ace serves by Allison Allen to tie the game at 12. After several more back-and-forth scoring rallies, Hay Springs once again took control to earn a 20-16 lead after a kill, two aces and a block on consecutive plays and rolled to a 25-21 set two win.
The Rams-Warriors controlled the third set and take a 25-22 win and force a fourth set. While Hay Springs struck first with a kill, Norman blocked Young and tied the game at one each and went up 2-1 on a Hawk error and never let it go. During the set, Holmgren had an ace serve and two kills, while Norman had two kills and two blocks. Peyton Osmotherly terminated three times and landed an ace, while Kylee Osmotherly had a kill and Allen an ace.
The deciding fourth set was another close one, with Hay Springs edging Crawford-Sioux County 25-23 for the win. Neither team ever led by more than three points, and score was tied or separated by a single digit for much of the set. Crawford-Sioux County led 9-6 and 10-7 early but the Hawks took an 11-10 lead on two kills and a win during a battle for the ball at the net. The Rams-Warriors answered with a kill by Peyton Osmotherly and Rudloff for a 13-11 lead before Young terminated on consecutive plays to tie the score at 13.
Hay Springs eventually led 16-13 before committing a series of errors and contending with two Crawford-Sioux County blocks to knot the game at 17. The teams traded several missed serves before Hay Springs landed an ace for a short-lived 20-18 lead. The Rams-Warriors terminated another attack and got an ace serve from Avery Mallery tie the score again before Peyton Osmotherly ended a long rally with a kill.
A net violation tied the contest at 21, and Peyton Osmotherly gave the Rams-Warriors the advantage with another kill for the team’s last lead at 22-21. Holmgren tied the score at 23 for the Rams-Warriors late, but Hay Springs finished with back-to-back kills to end the game.
The team opened the season with an away game against Leyton Friday, picking up a quick win. Crawford-Sioux County defeated Leyton in a 3-0 sweep with identical scores of 25-12 across the three sets.
Peyton Osmotherly led the Rams-Warriors with 11 kills, followed closely by Norman and Holmgren with nine. As a team, they landed 10 ace serves, led by Allen’s three. Norman and Kylee Osmotherly each had two blocks at the net, while Crawford-Sioux County had four players in double digit digs defensively. Holmgren and Kylee Osmotherly posted 13 each, and Peyton Osmotherly and Natasha Randolph each had 10. Kylee Osmotherly handled the ball for 26 assists, while Allen had 11.
Peyton Osmotherly led the Rams-Warriors from the attack line with 12 kills and was followed by Holmgren with eight. Ada Norman scored on eight ace serves and had a single block. Defensively, Kylee Osmotherly and Munoz-Salazar each had seven digs, and Holmgren was right behind them with six. Kylee Osmotherly also had 21 assists.
Tallee Rudloff makes a pass for Crawford-Sioux County during the team’s 3-1 loss to Hay Springs Saturday. Photo by Kerri Rempp/Sioux County Schools PIO