Prep volleyball: Epic home finale for Sigourney

Oct. 21—SIGOURNEY — On the 240th point in the 140th minute, a split-second decision by Madelynn Hornback could resulted in a much different ending to her final home volleyball match at Sigourney High School.

Seeking to erase the sixth match point of the night for the Savages, Macy McMann sent the volleyball over the net on a swing that the Iowa Valley junior was hoping would drop just inside or right on the back line on Sigourney's side of the net. Hornback, the only Sigourney volleyball player to collect 1,000 career digs, very nearly reached out for another as the ball headed to the back row.

"That was probably the most dramatic thing that happened in that game," Hornback said. "I was so scared (it was going to land in). I almost went for it."

Ultimately, it was the dig Hornback pulled away from that led to one of her greatest experiences on the volleyball court. McMann's hit drifted beyond the back line by less than a foot, landing out to clinch a dramatic 31-29, 26-24, 21-25, 27-29, 15-13 postseason win for the Savages in the Class 1A, District 6 quarterfinals.

Once the ball landed out, the celebration was on. The Savages had just a few seconds to celebrate on the court as a team before they were joined by the entire neon-clad student section that stayed vocal over the course of two-and-a-half hours of incredibly intense volleyball action.

"All I saw was a flash of neon," Hornback recalled of the incredible scene celebrating one of Sigourney volleyball's most memorable wins. "That was pretty awesome. It's great to sweep a match, but it's even better to fight as hard as you can fight, learn and be better every single time.

"For all the fans that were watching, that was probably the best volleyball match they've ever watched."

It didn't appear that Wednesday's postseason match would be so dramatic early on. Sigourney scored seven unanswered points early in the first game, opening an 8-3 lead, and continued to build on the advantage forcing the Tigers to use up both opening-game timeouts while widening the gap to 20-10.

As it turned out, that was where the real story of Wednesday's match would start to be told. Lola Frimml produced a pair of aces during a four-point run for the Tigers, forcing Sigourney to use a timeout, before a kill and a block by Ella Read kept Iowa Valley on the comeback trail.

Sigourney used its last timeout of the set after an ace serve by McMann cut the lead to 21-17. The Tigers were relentless, ultimately using a pair of ace serves by Madeline Shade along with a Jaden Smith kill and block from Lydia Kriegel and Kennady Rathjen to suddenly earn a pair of set points after trailing by 10, leading 24-22 over the Savages.

"I've never been a part of a match like this one," Sigourney head volleyball coach Steve Sattz said. "I knew it was going to be a battle. That first set really proved how tough it was going to be to put a win away against a team like Iowa Valley."

Ultimately, the Savages proved to be pretty tough to put away as well. Macy Fisch and Amiya Smallwood put home kills to erase Iowa Valley's first two set points.

They would not be the last of set points in the opener for the Tigers. Sigourney had to erase three more chances for Iowa Valley to win the first game while having their own set point erased during a marathon set that finally ended with an overturned ruling of a long hit by Emma Hammes as officials determined that Hammes' attack was tipped at the net by the Tigers on the 60th point of the game.

"Iowa Valley is a good team that is well coached, so we knew from the start this would be a battle to the end," Sattz said. "In our huddles, it wasn't so much about Xs and Os. It wasn't as much about strategy. It was about reminding the girls who was going to want this more. Whichever team played with the most effort was ultimately going to win."

The second game went to the maximum number of regulation points with Reagan Roozenboom clinching a 26-24 win on Sigourney's second set point of the game and the ninth overall set point between the teams in the first two sets. Despite the marathon rallies and marathon games, Sigourney was one win away from a postseason sweep.

True to the form of the match, Iowa Valley rallied back, erasing an early 6-3 deficit in game three with their season on the line gradually building a 23-16 lead before a wide tip by Macy Fisch finally clinched a set point on the seventh overall set point of the night for the Tigers. Sigourney had two chances to close the match out in four, taking a 24-23 lead on a block by Hammes before McMann found open court on a tip to extend Iowa Valley's season.

Frimml's ensuing serve went into the net, again giving Sigourney a chance to close the match in four. Rathjan kept the Tigers alive with a kill before an ace by McMann suddenly gave Iowa Valley a set point at 26-25. Sigourney erased two more set point chances for the Tigers, bringing that total for the match up to eight set points erased, before a wide swing by Madison Richard sent the epic two-hour battle into a fifth and decisive set.

"I've never felt that much pressure before in any match," Hornback said. "I almost cried at one point. It was the best match I've ever played in my life."

Iowa Valley (13-26) took an 8-6 lead on a block by Rathjen and Read before Sigourney responded with its season on the line, scoring three straight points including a kill by Roozenboom to open a 9-8 Sigourney lead in the fifth set. Smallwood added an ace while Roozeboom added her team-leading 23rd kill as Sigourney suddenly opened a 14-10 lead, earning four more match points.

"It all came down to being mentally tough," Roozenboom said. "We had to be mentally tougher and come together as a team."

Never was that needed more than after kills by McMann and a long hit by Roozenboom erased three more match-point chances for Sigourney, forcing Sattz to use the final timeout of the match. One point away from having their lead totally erased, the Savages pulled together to win the most important point of the year.

"Coach just kept telling us throughout the match that being mentally tough is what would win this for us," Hornback said.

Sigourney improves to 17-13 on the season, closing out play at home in unforgettable fashion. The Savages, now just two wins away from a state tournament berth, head to fourth-ranked Lisbon (35-6) for the 1A, Region 6 semifinals on Monday with the winner playing Wednesday at Benton Community against either 12th-ranked North Tama (28-10) or Montezuma (22-9) for a regional title and a trip to state.

"In my four years of volleyball, I've never been to the third round of the postseason," Hornback said. "I'm just super excited to be there. I just want to play as hard as I can.

"All we have to do is play hard and have fun," Roozenboom added. "We've got nothing to lose."

— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.