3A Recap, Reaction: Kuemper Turns Tables on Red Oak

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Get 30% off your first billing cycle with code: howe30 in the coupon code area</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>CORALVILLE - </strong>Kuemper Catholic hit some turbulence Tuesday during its Class 3A quarterfinal match against Red Oak here at Xtream Arena. Knight assistants suggested that head coach Rusty Wintermote take a timeout. He thought about it before deciding to rely on his players' resilience. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"I said no. They're going to find their way out of it," he said. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That they did in downing Red Oak, 3-1 (25-27, 25-17, 25-16, 25-22). Kuemper missed opportunities in the opening set and fell behind late in the fourth. Both times, it found way. It may have helped that the Tigers won the teams' regular-season meeting, 3-2, back on Sept. 16. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"Knowing what they could do in the regular season and again in that first set, I think we knew how strong of a team they were going to be," Knight senior [player_tooltip player_id='830462' first='Brianna' last='Wittrock'] said. "So, we pushed back harder and showed our true potential and what we could do." </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wittrock shared the team-lead in kills with 10. She was joined by Mariah Heuton and Kolbi Peter. Addy Anthofer and [player_tooltip player_id='753919' first='Elsa' last='Tiefenthaler'] each added eight. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"Honestly, I thought all of us brought everything we could. We left it all out there," Tiefenthaler said. "The first set was a little of a we-had-to-get-moving type of set, but after that I think everyone just lit up." </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Libero [player_tooltip player_id='800437' first='Kaylie' last='Simons'] was outstanding in the victory. The senior came up with 25 digs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"I think we just take everything thrown at us, all the adversity, all the struggles throughout the game, and we really use them to fuel us for every single point," Simons said. "We're not going to let one (lost) point stop us." </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Red Oak received a super effort from [player_tooltip player_id='753891' first='Jocelyn' last='O'Neal'], who pounded out 20 kills and came up with 19 digs, both team-highs. [player_tooltip player_id='793764' first='Emily' last='Sebeniecher'] dished out 36 assists and recorded 16 digs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/3QG-EfLMTLA","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/3QG-EfLMTLA </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->