Thursday night’s Tulip City Showdown on the volleyball court certainly had the expected moments of tight competition and swings in momentum, but ultimately it was the team from Pella Christian that claimed control of the match, as they swept Pella High 3-0.

Lady Eagles’ head coach Cindy Nikkel said a strong performance from the middle of her offense played a key role in the victory.

“Lynelle De Bruin had an outstanding match. She had eight kills, and they had a hard time stopping her out of the middle,” said Nikkel. “She worked on her transition [defense], and that was big.”

Pella Christian claimed a 25-15 victory in the opening set, but was pushed to the brink in the second game, before holding on for a 27-25 win. Pella High head coach Bob Fessler said while his team had an opportunity to win, the conclusion of game two really summarized what type of a season it’s been for the Lady Dutch.

“The set ended with us making two errors, and it’s just kind of indicative of our season at this point,” said Fessler. “We’re still just making too many errors to win sets and start to build our confidence.”

Pella opened the third game with a strong start, but Pella Christian quickly fired back, capping off the match with a 25-15 victory. Pella Christian’s Jenna Horstman tied Lynelle De Bruin with a game-high eight kills; while Katie Sunderman led Pella with three. Lauren Jungling of Pella Christian had a match-best 15 assists, while Pella High’s Taelor Rempe was solid on defense with 14 digs.

The Lady Eagles are now 14-2 overall and 4-0 in the Little Hawkeye Conference, while Pella High dips to 2-12 overall and 0-2 in league play.

Statistics:

Kills:
PC – Lynelle De Bruin (8)
PC – Jenna Horstman (8)
Pella – Katie Sunderman (3)

Assists:
PC – Lauren Jungling (15)
Pella – Regan Nelson (8)

Blocks:
PC – Jenna Horstman (1)
Pella – Maddy Scholten (3)

Serves:
PC – Jasmin Schelhaas (11-11)
Pella – Maddy Scholten (11-12)

Digs:
PC – Jasmin Schelhaas (12)
Pella – Taelor Rempe (14)