Party’s just begun

Comets start homecoming week with ‘huge’ five-set volleyball win over Waverly-Shell Rock

By John Burbridge | sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — Turn out the lights, the party’s over?

Rather … turn out the lights, the toga party has just begun.

When Charles City junior Tayler Schmidt was about ready to go into her jump-serve motion for match point against Waverly-Shell Rock in a hotly contested Northeast Iowa Conference meeting Tuesday night, the lights went out in the Comets’ new varsity gymnasium.

The Charles City student cheering section, dressed like members of the Roman Republic Senate, seized the opportunity and began chanting “Toga!, Toga!, Toga!” in anticipation of a pending celebration.

When the lights came back on, it was lights out for the Go-Hawks as Schmidt proceeded to smack in an ace for her seventh-straight service point as the Comets won the deciding set (15-8) in a five-set match.

“That was a huge win for us,” Comets’ coach Sue Hoefer said as her team improved to 15-3 overall and 3-0 in conference standings. “Usually our matches determine who the conference champion is going to be. Plus, (postseason) pairings are coming out this Friday, so this win is going to help us.”

In the first varsity contest during Charles City’s homecoming week, the Comets got off to a quick start in the first set. An ace by Katie Foster put them up 3-1 before two hitting kills by the Go-Hawks’ talented freshman outside hitter Jazlyn Westmoreland tied the set at 6.

Blocking kills by Kelsi Crooks and Jodie Sindlinger helped put the Comets up 15-10 before Sydney Loeckle set up Crooks for the final point to win the set 25-15.

In the second set, the Go-Hawks’ superior height began to assert itself. A blocking kill by Jayme Willemssen made the score 20-10 W-SR before the Go-Hawks evened the match with a 25-18 set win.

“Yeah, they had a height advantage, but every team is going to have a height advantage over us,” Hoefer said. “We just have to deal with it.”

Multiple aces by Crooks, Schmidt and Foster helped the Comets take the third set (25-21), but the Go-Hawks responded with some hard-sinking, strategically placed serves of their own in the fourth set to get the Comets playing off their heels.

An emphatic block by Abbey Their and an ace by Jayme Willemssen put the Go-Hawks up 21-13 before winning 25-20 to force the fifth set.

In the final set, Sindlinger’s blocking kill put the Comets up 5-3, but the Go-Hawks scored four unanswered points as another blocking kill by Their gave them a 7-5 lead.

It looked as if the Go-Hawks seized the momentum for good, and the Comets seemed to need someone from the Animal House-clad student section to take the floor and go into a “You say it’s over!?!” diatribe.

Instead, the Comets may have been inspired by all-out diving digs by Foster and Sara Martin to keep the ball alive during the decisive 10-1 run to win the match.

Waverly-Shell Rock fell to 18-13 while losing its first conference match (2-1).

The Comets will travel to Oelwein on Thursday before hosting a tournament on Saturday.