Spencer, Ia (Northwest Iowa Now) – The Spencer Volleyball team opened up Siouxland Conference Division 2 Play on Thursday night at the Spencer High School Field House, hosting Sheldon. The two teams met earlier int he season at teh Sheldon Early Bird where Spencer came away with a 2 sets to 1 win.

Both Sheldon and Spencer were playing without their top hitters. Aspen Van Holland was out for Sheldon. The Junior had been averaging 3.1 Kills Per Set and racked up 17 blocks on the season. Spencer was without Lauren Koenig who had led the team at 3.8 Kills per set and aces as well with 15 on the year.

Spencer shoed their depth up front early, winning Set 1 25-17, dominating at the net both offensively and defensively. Calista Frankenstein, who was filling Koenig’s void on the left side played well in Set 1 as the Tigers went up 1-0.

Sheldon’s hustle paid off in a big way for set 2. There were several long rallys that almost always went the Orabs way, as they outlasted a Spencer team that seemed to lose their edge a bit in the second set. The Tigers were able to battle back within 4 at one point, but two big Kills from Sophomore Ava Honkomp helped push Sheldon to a 25-17 win, evening up the match at a set apiece.

The most entertaining set was the 3rd, as each team battled back-and-forth, neither stringing together a run of more than 3 points. Lucy Simington continued to be an anchor for Spencer in the back row, spoiling several Sheldon attacks with digs. Brielle Sauer especially kept the pressure up on the Spencer defense, but the Tigers ultimatley came out on top of the hotley contested 3rd set 25-23.

Spencer kept the Orabs at an arms distance for the most part in Set 4. Sheldon’s Taylor Stellinga was able to find openings in the middle of the Spencer floor on multiple occasions with dumps. Dakota Lux came up with 2 big kills down the stretch, and Spencer’s biggest lead of the set, was their final lead as they won 25-20, winning the match 3 sets to 1.

Spencer improves to 8-9 on the year and 1-0 in the Siouxland Conference. The Tigers are back in action September 17th on the road against Western Christian of Hull. Sheldon falls to 4-10 on the year and 0-1 in the Siouxland Conference. The Orabs will attend the Cherokee Tournament on September 19th.