A strong effort wasn’t enough for the Pella Christian volleyball team Thursday night, as they fell in five sets to Van Meter in the Class 3A Region 3 semifinals.

Competing on the road as the lower-seed, the Eagles started the match unfazed by the Bulldogs’ high-seeding, taking the first set 25-19. The second set went back and forth between the two teams, but Van Meter evened the score with a 25-23 victory. Much like the second set, Pella Christian and the Bulldogs traded points throughout much of the third set, but the Eagles secured a 25-22 win to pull within match point. With their backs against the wall, Van Meter grabbed the upper hand in the fourth set, and held off a late Pella Christian rally to push the match to a fifth-set tiebreaker with a 25-21 victory. In the final set, the two teams continued to play nearly even, with the Bulldogs taking the largest lead at 10-7 before an Eagles timeout. Pella Christian bounced back to score three of the next four points to force a Van Meter timeout, then scored three of the next five points to tie the set at 13-13. Despite the Eagles’ rally to pull back even in the final set, the Bulldogs scored the final two points of the night to secure a 15-13 win and end Pella Christian’s season.

Seniors Brynn Roozeboom (25) and Addie Van Arendonk (16) led the offensive attack in their final game in an Eagles volleyball uniform, combining to record 41 of the team’s 60 kills and seven of the squad’s 13 aces on the night. Fellow senior Amaia Agre led the backline for the Pella Christian defense, posting 18 digs in the loss. Junior Brynn Runner dished out 52 assists on the night and junior Rachel Kacmarynski had five blocks. 

The Eagles finish the year with a 14-17 overall record and will graduate three seniors from the program in Agre, Van Arendonk, and Roozeboom.