ADRIAN — The Adrian/Ellsworth volleyball team is a real threat as a South Sub-Section 3A contender.
The Dragons (16-8) are a team that does a lot of things well. They have power hitting, solid blocking, and a scrappy defense, led by a large group of experienced veterans. All of that was on full display Monday in a 3-0 sweep of Edgerton in their regular-season finale.
It was senior night for coach Bobby Kunkel’s team and he wanted to make sure all nine of his seniors saw the court. They all were vital in leading the Dragons to the 25-19, 25-17, 25-20 win.
“I guess for doing a different rotation, starting a few different girls, they played well together,” Kunkel said. “For some of them that don’t play all the time, to get them in and get them to play (Monday) with senior night was big for us. They muscled through it and got the win.”
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For Edgerton (5-19), two milestones were reached late in the first set. The first came from senior Reese Vande Griend as she reached 2,000 blocks in her Flying Dutchmen career. Just nine points later, fellow senior Kya Voge passed for her 1,000th set assist.
The Dutchmen led early in that first set until the Dragons first grabbed it at 11-10 after back-to-back kills from Brylee Zebe and Audrina Tiesler. The set remained close until A/E went on a closing run. A Zebe kill made it 24-19 before a Maggie Lenz ace serve on set point.
In set two, Edgerton grabbed a 6-1 lead through Ailynn Johnson’s solid serving before the Dragons came back with a 4-0 run. The Dutchmen led in the second set as well but another Tiesler kill and Lenz ace made it 15-14. That helped the Dragons take charge for the rest of the set as a solid Charlee Lehnhoff serve gave them a 2-0 margin.
The Dutchmen led early in the third set, but a Mersaydes Marten ace started a 4-0 burst that gave the Dragons momentum again.
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Edgerton wasn’t quite done yet, though, as a 9-2 response spawned an 18-14 lead. A Kamry Lehnhoff kill ended that Dutchmen run before another kill from her gave Adrian a 20-19 lead they wouldn’t give up.
Zebe and Tiesler each hit a team-leading eight kills and Kamry and Charlee Lehnhoff each added four. Marten passed for 17 assists and Ava Brown added seven. The Dragons totaled seven service aces as Lenz and Marten each had two.
After starting the season with a 1-4 mark, A/E began rounding into form, starting with a 3-1 stretch in a Sept. 13 tournament in Jackson. Then came five straight wins, which led to the Dragons ending the regular season as winners in 11 of their last 15 matches.
“We’ve just been playing better and better, I think, as the season has gone on,” Kunkel said. “That is super impressive to see that kind of click together and everything kind of comes together. Defense has worked real well for us lately, as far as the block and stuff, so if we can slow their offense down, we can speed up our offense.”
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The Dragons are 7-2 and on a seven-match win streak against South Sub-Section opponents. They are right there near the top of the standings in second place. At the top is Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, ranked third in the state. In third is another dangerous team in Westbrook-Walnut Grove.
But the belief is growing for the Dragons that they can make it to Marshall for the sub-section championship. Tournament play starts on Monday, Oct. 20 with play-in matches. With the Dragons likely being one of the top seeds, their playoff run would start in the sub-section quarterfinals on Oct. 24.
“Just the drive of the girls, the want to win and want to make it to Marshall,” Kunkel said of his team’s improvements. “They feed off each other when they’re on and pick each other up when they’re not…”
Skyler Jackson joined the Globe in July 2023 as a reporter covering both news and sports. Born and raised in Sioux City, Iowa, Skyler attended South Dakota State University and graduated in 2023 with a degree in journalism. After graduating college, he decided on settling in Worthington for his current job at the Globe.
