Mediapolis Gains Respect

Bullettes claim SEI Superconference tournament championship.

Melissa Jansson/The Hawk Eye
Mediapolis High School's Ashlei Jandrey (9) blocks a kill attempt by Fort Madison Aquinas High School's Jenn Ping during the championship match of the SEI Superconference Volleyball Tournament at Loren Walker Arena.

Respect. It's all about respect.

The Mediapolis High School volleyball team was on a roll coming into the finals of the SEI Superconference Volleyball Tournament Tuesday night at Loren Walker Arena. The Bullettes' four losses on the season had come against three Class 3A teams ranked in the top 19 and Class 1A's fourth–ranked Grandview Park Baptist.

Yet the Bullettes dropped from a preseason No. 3 ranking in Class 1A to No. 16.

The Bullettes gained the respect they were looking for, and did so in impressive fashion.

After battling past 12th–ranked New London in the semifinals in perhaps the best match of the night, Mediapolis rolled to a 15–2, 15–7 victory over fifth–ranked Fort Madison Aquinas in the championship match to win the conference title for the first time since the inaugural event in 1993.

"We haven't won this in quite some time. It's awesome," said Mediapolis senior middle hitter Brenna Nelson, who jump–started the Bullettes' offense early in the championship match. "We have a little intimidation going between us and Aquinas. This is pretty sweet."

"This feels really good," said Mediapolis senior all–state setter Ashlei Jandrey. "We were really pumped up. We felt like we haven't been getting a lot of respect. We felt like we could do it. We just had to step up our emotional level."

"This feels great. We have been looking forward to this match for a long time," said Mediapolis senior all–state middle hitter Jo Kester. "We have been wanting to play Aquinas for a long time. They are a really good team."

"I thought the kids did a great job tonight," said Mediapolis coach Dennis Jandrey, who led the Bullettes to the conference tournament title in 1993. "I said coming into tonight that we needed to take care of us and that's what we did tonight. We didn't beat ourselves tonight. We played some good teams and lost and we dropped from No. 3 to No. 17. I don't know what else we can do. We're a better team than it shows in the paper. We got some gratitude from that tonight.

"This is nice for the kids. They were disappointed last year when we lost in the quarterfinals. They came back and played well this year. I am really proud of the kids. This is good for the kids. It really is."

Mediapolis (17–4–4), after rolling to a convincing 15–1, 15–0 victory over Wapello in the quarterfinals, found itself in a heated battled with four–time champion New London in the semifinals. The Bullettes won the first game, thrashing the Tigers 15–0.

But New London was not about to roll over. The Tigers battled back to win the second game 15–13 to force a third and deciding game.

Mediapolis won a hard–fought, see–saw affair in the third game. New London held a 10–6 lead before Mediapolis rallied, ending it with a Kester kill for a 15–12 victory. That propelled the Bullettes into the title match to face Aquinas.

"We had to get back to being aggressive," Kester said of the third game against New London. "That's how we win, by being aggressive."

"We knew we needed to step up our game," Ashlei Jandrey said. "We had to get our emotional level back up."

"That was crazy," said Nelson, who had nine kills in the match against New London. "We knew we had to stick together and do what we needed to do."

"We came out ready to play in the second and third games," New London coach Maureen Heath said. "We just didn't have enough power left at the end.

"Mediapolis was clicking on all cylinders tonight."

Aquinas (25–1–1) came out tight in the opening game of the title match and found itself in an early 3–0 hole. The Lady Dons, who advanced to a regional final last year, fought back to within 4–2 on a spike by senior setter Katie Rung and a Mediapolis hitting error. Mediapolis then reeled off the next 11 points to pull away. The Bullettes scored the final 11 points on the serve of Sarah Schulte. Nelson accounted for five straight points in the run, including four spikes off quick sets from Ashlei Jandrey.

"We were probably a little tight in the first game," Aquinas coach Mike Helling said. "We were taken aback by their quick offense in that first game."

Mediapolis jumped to a quick 8–1 lead in the second game before Aquinas finally got on track. Two spikes by Allison Meierotto and a kill by Rung brought the Lady Dons within 8–4.

A pair of aces by Kelly Pieper moments later brought Aquinas within 9–7.

But Kester stemmed the tide with a block. Kester accounted for the next three points with a pair of blocks sandwiched around a spike.

The Bullettes put the match away on a spike by Kester, followed by an Aquinas spike which sailed wide. That set off a wild celebration by the Bullettes.

"The one thing we felt like we had going was that not a lot of teams have seen what we are doing," Coach Jandrey said. "The speed with which we run our offense causes a lot of teams problems. There is no way to prepare for it. I am pleased with where our offense is right now, but we still have room to improve."

"Mediapolis played excellent all night long," Helling said. "I am very proud of our girls. They really battled back."

Iowa Mennonite School (16–5–2) the defending champion, was knocked out in the semifinals by Aquinas. But IMS came back to take third place with a 15–13, 15–11 win over New London in a rematch of last year's final.

WACO (20–9–1) was the surprise team of the tournament. The Warriors stunned Aquinas in the opening game of the quarterfinals, rolling to a seemingly easy 15–4 win. But the Lady Dons bounced back to take the final two games.

"We played great," WACO coach Tom Ferguson said. "We are kind of sitting in no man's land and not a lot of people know about WACO. We don't get a lot of respect. We came out in that first game and played unbelievable. We pushed Aquinas to play beyond their means to beat us."

Columbus (18–7–3) threw a scare into New London in the quarterfinals, pushing the Tigers to the limit before New London prevailed.

"We were down eight and then took a 13–12 lead," Columbus coach Josh Lukavsky said. "I thought we had a chance, but we didn't get the breaks we needed."

Keokuk Cardinal Stritch (15–7–1) gave IMS a tough match before bowing out in the semifinals.

"We considered ourselves the underdogs," Stritch coach Kim Goetz said. "We just got caught on the defensive too much instead of running our offense."

Wapello coach Ken Spielbauer hopes his young team gained some valuable experience.

"It was a good learning experience," said Spielbauer, whose team fell to 7–9–2.

SEI Superconference Volleyball Tournament

Quarterfinal matches

Fort Madison Aquinas def. WACO, 4–15, 15–9, 15–8; Iowa Mennonite School def. Keokuk Cardinal Stritch, 15–6, 15–6; New London def. Columbus, 15–13, 15–2; Mediapolis def. Wapello, 15–1, 15–0.

Semifinal matches

Fort Madison Aquinas def. IMS, 15–8, 15–7; Mediapolis def. New London, 15–0, 13–15, 15–12

Consolation final

IMS def. New London, 15–13, 15–11

Championship match

Mediapolis def. Fort Madison Aquinas, 15–2, 15–7

Columbus (18–7–3)

Kills — Ann Mincks 7, Emily Wilson 2, Mackenzie Meyerholz 2

Assists — Ashley Orris 10

Serving — Meyerholz 3 aces

Blocks — Wilson 4, Nicole Stewart 3, Mincks 3

Digs — Brittney Clark 7, Meyerholz 6

Fort Madison Aquinas (25–1–1)

Kills — Jenn Ping 24, Jill Helling 16, Jill Braden 14, Allison Meierotto 10, Katie Rung 8, Kelly Pieper 4

Assists — Rung 61

Serving — Rung 25–27 (1 ace), Pieper 25–27 (5 aces), Braden 20–22 (5 aces), Angela Dunlay 20–23 (2 aces), Ping 13–16 (1 ace), Amanda Hiersten 5–6, Helling 16–21

Blocks — Meierotto 5, Braden 4, Ping 2, Rung 2

Digs — Helling 29, Braden 26, Rung 24, Dunlay 19, Ping 16, Pieper 9, Maggie Hoenig 7, Hiersten 4

Keokuk Cardinal Stritch (15–7–1)

Kills — Jennifer Goetz 9, Erika Lambros 4, Jessica O'Blenness 2, Jenna Thompson 2

Assists — Krissy High 12

Serving — Thompson 7–7, Erika High 6–6, Goetz 5–5, O'Blenness 5–5, Lambros 6–8 (1 ace), K.High 3–4

Blocks — Goetz 4, Lambros 3, E.High 1, Thompson 1, O'Blenness 1

Digs — Goetz 8, Lambros 6, E.High 5, O'Blenness 4, K.High 3, Thompson 2, Natalie Beaird 1

Mediapolis (17–4–4)

Kills — Jo Kester 26, Brenna Nelson 15, Ashlee Baker 13, Margaret Kuenzler 12, Ashlei Jandrey 12, Krista Wirt 3

Assists — Jandrey 62

Serving — Meta Kramer 10 aces, Sarah Schulte 7, Baker 4, Jandrey 3, Laura Spanhut 3, Kester 1

Blocks — Kester 18, Nelson 17, Jandrey 12, Wirt 10, Baker 4

Digs — Baker 19, Jandrey 17, Kramer 16, Kester 14, Kuenzler 9

New London (20–6–3)

Kills — Rylee Olsen 20, Stephanie Fischer 13, Courtney Pilch 10, Katie Lorber 6

Assists — Megan Alden 47

Serving — Pilch 20–22 (1 ace), Fischer 28–30 (6 aces)

Blocks — Fischer 4, Olsen 3, Pilch 3

Digs — Lorber 36, Fischer 25, Piper Williamson 22, Pilch 21, Alden 18, Olsen 9

WACO (20–9–1)

Kills — Lindsay Eichelberger 7, Jessica Messer 6, Megan Fort 4

Assists — Mikaela Grimm 10, Brittany Yutzy 6

Serving — Fort (2 aces)

Blocks — Messer 7, Grimm 3, Yutzy 2

Digs — Fort 13, Jessica Fletcher 9, Jamie Leichty 7