Sweeping on Senior Night

After Charlie and Tate Geerts had balloons tied around their wrists and ran around the gym floor to show them off, their mother talked about her “other” family. 
That’s the one that just went 20-0 on the season with 3-0 wins on consecutive nights — over Waukon and Oelwein — and jumped a couple places to a ninth-place spot in the 3A rankings.
All season long coach Jess Geerts has talked about how important the seniors were to the team, even though some don’t see a lot of court time. 
But Tuesday they got their day in the sun as, after they were honored before the match against Oelwein, they won the first set. Rachel Rinken was the only non-senior to play the game as Kayla Crooks, Regan Gebel, Sydney Laures, Hanna Wiltse and Paige Wisner joined starters Lauren Frerichs, Natalie Hoey, Maddi Moorman and Kerigan Tenge in the rotation.
“It was a lot of fun tonight,” said Crooks. “I thought we played well and it was fun to see family and friends come out to watch us. We understand why we don’t get to play much, but it’s good that we support our friends, we want them to succeed.” 
It was a close first set, a Gebel kill gave the Chickasaws a 15-11 lead, but Oelwein came back to tie at 17. A 4-1 New Hampton run that included three Kerigan Tenge kills — once to the corner and once to dead center — led to the final 25-23 win.
For the full story, please see the Sept. 28 Tribune.