Vikings Fall to Central Methodist in Conference Semifinals

Women’s Volleyball | Tue, Nov. 9, 2021

Des Moines, IA – The Grand View women’s volleyball team saw its run for a conference championship come to an end on Tuesday night. The Vikings fell to Central Methodist University in a thrilling five-set match with scores of 25-23,25-23, 21-25, 25-27 and 13-15.

Set 1: Grand View University 25 l Central Methodist University 23

The Vikings and Eagles began the first set trading points back and forth all the way to a 10-10 draw. Jenna Wagemester (SR/Cedar Rapids, IA) and Alexa Aldrich-Ingram (SR/Iowa City, IA) were featured heavily over the opening stretch with each player recording two kills for the Vikings offense. Central Methodist gained a bit of an edge with a 3-0 scoring run, but the Vikings were eventually able to tie it back up at 18-18 off a kill from Lauren Bair (SR/Braddyville, IA). In the closing stages, with the set tied at 23-23, it was the duo of Wagemester and Bair to come through with the Vikings on back-to-back kills for the set win.

Set 2: Grand View University 25 l Central Methodist University 23

The second set saw the Vikings get down early, but they found some momentum behind a 7-0 scoring streak to go up 14-7. During the scoring stretch, Sydney Beasley (FR/Darlington, WI) slammed home two consecutive kills to force a Central Methodist timeout and Karleigh Halpin (SR/Ottumwa, IA) registered a service ace. Slowly over the course of the set the Eagles were able to chip away at the Vikings lead and got it down to one-point at the 21-20 mark. Grand View didn’t let the lead slip away, however, and took another set off of kills from Wagemester and Aldrich-Ingram.

Set 3: Grand View University 21 l Central Methodist University 25

In the third, Grand View was able to jump out to an early lead behind the offensive power of Wagemester as she scored four of Grand View’s first 11 points. The momentum shifted toward the side of the Eagles when Central Methodist went on a 5-0 scoring streak to take its first lead of the set at 19-17. A late 4-0 scoring run by the Eagles was too much for the Vikings to overcome as they dropped their first set of the night.

Set 4: Grand View University 25 l Central Methodist University 27

Set four played out similar to set one in that the two squads battled back and forth, trading points to a 12-12 draw, until Grand View took a slight advantage on consecutive kills from Bair and Rylie Olson (JR/Osage, IA). The Vikings retained a one-point…