The #10 (2A) Grundy Center volleyball team will look to capitalize on its development throughout the regular season when it hosts Panorama in a 2A Region 6 quarterfinal Wednesday. It’ll be the postseason opener for the Spartans.
At 23-15, Grundy Center was battle-tested near the end of the regular season, including two matches against #1 (2A) Denver in the final week, and a tournament at Cedar Rapids Jefferson which included larger schools. Head Coach Lori Willis on facing an unfamiliar opponent in the postseason.
“When you don’t know something about a team, or you don’t know about a team when you’re from our area, it’s kind of a good thing, because that means that they’re not making noise and grabbing anybody’s attention,” Willis says. “You can’t fear anybody, but you have to respect them. So I’m excited to see how we match up, see if we can just continue to get better, see if we can start slowing down some hitters.”
The Spartans have had success when running the offense through 6’7” sophomore middle hitter Ryanne Brubaker, whose 3.1 kills per set was the second-best in the NICL-West.
Panorama (11-11) will play their second postseason match, having defeated Pocahontas Area 3-2 at home in Monday’s first round, where they erased a 2-1 deficit. They’ve hit just .077 on the season with no players with more than two kills per set.
It’ll be the first meeting in the Bound era between the programs. The first serve will be at 7:00 p.m., and the winner will advance to Monday’s regional semifinal against either Emmetsburg or Alta-Aurelia.
