IONE – The Condon Blue Devils persevered against a tough Ione team in 5 sets (25-22, 18-25, 25-18, 24-26, 15-6) on Tuesday night.
The Blue Devils jumped out to a 2-0 lead with hard serves from Kiara Takagi. But Ione came back with strong play from Ola Rietmann and Favi Juarez. An ace from Ione’s Gennell Blakley put Ione on top 13-11 but strong serving from Condon’s Sidney Geer, Abby Colby and Kyrsten Smith brought Condon back.
With the score 21-21, Megan Aamodt was up to serve and had an ace and another point to make the score 21-23. An Ace from Kenzie LaRue finished the game 22-25 Condon.
The second set saw strong play from Ione’s Ola Rietmann and Favi Juarez. Ione was in control of the set from beginning to end. A kill from Favi Juarez and an ace by Larysa Burright sealed the set for Ione, 25-14.
It was back and forth in the third set with the teams trading points and long volleys. Then, Condon’s Kiara Takagi took over and had two aces and a point to make the score 21-10 Condon. Ione roared back but fell short 18-25.
The fourth set saw some furious action and the intensity picked up on both sides. Ione’s Favi Juarez went on a tear, getting back to back aces and scoring 6 straight points to make the score 22-18. An ace from Condon’s Kenzie LaRue was followed by an Ace by Ione’s Eva Martin. Both teams fought and Ione won the set 26-24.
But the final set belonged to Condon from the start. The Blue Devils jumped out to a 7-1 lead with strong play from Sidney Geer and Kyrsten Smith. An ace from Megan Aamodt made it 14-5 and Ione couldn’t muster a final rally – losing 15-6.
With the loss, Ione moves to 3-2 while Condon goes to 4-1.
Up next, Ione will face Sherman on Thursday in Moro. Condon will host top-ranked Echo on Saturday.