Chickasaw girls fall in regional final
New Hampton's brilliant volleyball season came to an end one victory short of the state tournament as third-ranked Waterloo Columbus topped the Chickasaws 3-1 for the Class 3A regional title Monday night. Set scores were 26-24, 25-21, 20-25, 25-18. "I'm proud of our girls," New Hampton coach Jess Geerts said after her team finished the season 29-10. "They kept battling." The Chickasaws held a 22-19 lead in the first set and were tied with the Sailors at 20 in the second but Columbus still took a 2-0 lead. But New Hampton rallied in the third set, building a 17-10 lead and scoring four of the set's final five points to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Chickasaws took a quick 3-1 lead in the fourth set, but Columbus went on an 8-1 run and never looked back. The match was the final one for eight seniors - Savannah Anderson, Kaelyn Ambrose, Bailey Knowlton, Isabel Leichtman, Kallie Olson, Callie Speltz, Barbara Schwickerath and Marcy Uglum. For more on this story, see the Nov. 3 Tribune