Continuing our countdown of the top 10 sports stories from Eagle Lane in 2024-2025, the #7 spot comes from the Pella Christian volleyball team’s dominant run to the Class 2A Region 8 Finals.
The #9 ranked Eagles opened regional action firing on all cylinders, sweeping Earlham in the quarterfinals 25-8, 25-18, 25-16 on October 23rd. Pella Christian jumped out to a 9-2 lead early in the first set before cruising to the 25-8 victory, and despite falling behind 10-7 in the second set, the Eagles rallied out of a timeout to score the next seven points to go ahead 14-10. Earlham hung around until the 18-14 mark of set two, before PC took control and closed on a 7-4 run. The third set saw four ties through the first 12 points, but Pella Christian never trailed. The Eagles began to pull ahead with a 15-12 advantage midway through the set, and finished off the match with a 10-4 run to advance. Chloe Huisman posted a double-double on the night with 28 assists and 12 digs to pair with a team-high 4 aces. Brynn Roozeboom and Rachel Kacmarynski led Pella Christian’s offensive attack with 10 kills apiece, while Kacmarynski, Addison Bandstra, and Claire Westerkamp each recorded two blocks defensively.
Following up their quarterfinal win, the Eagles rolled to another 3-0 sweep, this time defeating Pleasantville 25-14, 25-13, 25-13 in the semifinals. Pella Christian came out of the gate strong in front of a packed crowd with a 11-2 run, and despite the Trojans rallying to score five of the next six points, the Eagles finished the set on a 13-7 run to claim the first set. After the second set began with the two sides trading points, Pella Christian gained the upper hand, quickly turning a 6-4 lead into a 11-4 advantage, before finishing the set on a 14-9 run to move within a set of the regional championship. The third set was all Eagles, as they took the early lead and never looked back to win 25-13 and advance. Addison Bandstra, Brynn Roozeboom, and Addie Van Arendonk powered the Eagles’ offense, recording 33 of the team’s 43 kills. Chloe Huisman tallied 34 assists and three blocks on the night, while Bandstra and Rachel Kacmarynski also had three blocks apiece. Faith Kacmarynski added a team-high 17 digs, surpassing the 1,000 career digs milestone. Kacmarynski said that achieving the milestone was an added bonus to what was a great year on Eagle Lane.
“I honestly at the beginning of the season didn’t even know I was close. It was never a goal. So, it’s just kind of something that was really fun this season. About halfway through, I realized I was close, so it’s just a nice addition to how well we’ve been playing and just something fun already added to this really amazing season.”
Pella Christian fell to #8 Iowa City Regina in the Class 2A Region 8 Championship, finishing the year with a 24-12 overall record.