3A Recap, Reaction: Assumption on Top Again

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Get 30% off your first billing cycle with code:&nbsp;howe30&nbsp;in the coupon code area</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><a href="https://ighsau.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/25statevolleyball/3a7.pdf">BOX SCORE</a></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>CORALVILLE - </strong>[player_tooltip player_id='230661' first='Ellah' last='Derrer'] won a state championship as a freshman in 2022 before falling short the last two seasons. The Assumption senior had another chance at the brass ring in Thursday's Class 3A title game and wasn't about to let another one get away.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Derrer, a Kansas State commitment, bookended her career with a pair of championships. The latest trophy came as the result of a 3-0 victory against Humboldt here at Xtream Arena. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While winning a state title always feels good, and Derrer appreciated accomplishing it as a ninth-grader, Thursday's win meant more.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"Yeah, it's a lot sweeter," Derrer said. "Freshman year, I was so young, and I looked so much up to AJ Schubert. This year, I kind of feel like it was more my team and more of the seniors' team,&nbsp;and I feel like I contributed a lot more this year than I did my freshman year." </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Derrer was named the captain of the 3A all-tournament team. She had plenty of help in coming out on top, including fellow seniors [player_tooltip player_id='389006' first='Carsyn' last='Kelley'] and [player_tooltip player_id='630696' first='Erin' last='Robbins'], who also landed on the all-tournament squad. The Knights were joined on the team by Humboldt's [player_tooltip player_id='545946' first='Addison' last='Waldorf'] and [player_tooltip player_id='746258' first='Adelynn' last='Goodell'] along with Western Christian's [player_tooltip player_id='781456' first='Morgan' last='Kooiman'] and Addy Anthofer from Kuemper Catholic.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Derrer finished with 16 kills (.500) and three blocks Thursday. She affected quite a few opposing attack attempts as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kelley experienced her second championship, too. She won one at Pleasant Valley last year. The Evansville pledge appreciated both of them.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"Obviously, there's always a happiness in winning a state championship.&nbsp;It's not something a lot of people do, and so it's not something I take for granted," she said.&nbsp;"But to be able to do it with these girls and this team,&nbsp;we've had such a great connection over this past year,&nbsp;and to be able to go out with them in this way is spectacular."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kelley dished out 36 assists, and added three digs, three kills and a blocks. Robbins contributed eight kills and four blocks. Sophomores [player_tooltip player_id='694203' first='Belle' last='Cotton'] (11 kills, 8 digs) and [player_tooltip player_id='742600' first='Piper' last='Hodge'] (20 digs) also were instrumental in the championship, and Delyiah Graves, [player_tooltip player_id='814957' first='Kathryn' last='Snyder'] and [player_tooltip player_id='807931' first='Emmy' last='Burkhart'] played key roles in it.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thursday's victory was not without its tense moments for the champs. They trailed 21-18 in the third set before rallying, leaning on training, which included intense box jumping in the preseason to build stamina.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"You go through long rallies in a game. There's no stopping," Robbins said. "I mean, you only get so many timeouts, too. I mean, you get your three-second huddle, but you just have to keep going. You have to just keep swinging hard and pressing and just build stamina and character, a little bit."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Knights lost in last year's first round. They then sat in the arena during the final and watched champion Mount Vernon celebrate a title. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"We made our goals from a year ago.&nbsp;We're like, we will be on the stage with the fire, with the hype video. We will be here. And we ended up doing it. We accomplished our goal," Robbins said. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Humboldt was the underdog Thursday as it was in defeating top-seeded Western Christian in the semifinals a day earlier. That win took a lot out of the Wildcats, mentally and physically. They fought hard against Assumption, but didn't play as crisply as the day before. The Knights certainly had something to do with that, in particular the middle-hitter duo of Derrer and Robbins.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"I think that going into it we knew that both their middles were super, super strong, obviously. So we went into it hoping to be able to shut them down with our block," Humboldt sophomore setter [player_tooltip player_id='545946' first='Addison' last='Waldorf'] said. "But we kind of struggled to do that, and they kind of just ate us alive. At the end of the day, I think that's kind of what lost for us was just their middles were on fire." </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/T2Cew96pzok","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/T2Cew96pzok </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/TFMR6H9_7jE","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/TFMR6H9_7jE </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->