GRUNDY CENTER – Grundy Center volleyball had the strength to outlast Gladbrook-Reinbeck in a thrilling five-set match at Grundy Center High School on Tuesday, Sept. 2.

The Spartans, ranked fifth in Class 2A, won by scores of 21-25, 25-18, 25-17, 23-25, 18-16 to improve to 4-0 in the opening game of NICL West play for both teams. The Rebels dropped to 2-2 on the season but have since climbed the Class 1A rankings from #10 to #7 after this performance combined with wins against second-ranked North Tama and 11th (2A) Wapsie Valley in their season opener at Maquoketa Valley.

G-R put up a considerable fight against a Grundy Center team that had won 25 of the last 27 meetings between the teams going into Tuesday, including six unanswered points in the fourth set to force a fifth set, and holding match point on the Spartans before Grundy was able to claw back to victory.

“We just had to keep fighting, because we knew we wanted to win, too,” Grundy Center senior Lauren Zajac said. “They came out firing, but we had to keep pushing and know that we could get there.”

G-R led 15-14 in the fifth set and nearly had the match won when Kennedy Brant and Elly Sieh stuffed a Jenna Blythe attack, but Blythe made a heads-up play to keep the ball alive, and after a Lydia Hook bump the ball went to Ryanne Brubaker, who was able to perfectly place a free ball into the center of G-R’s defense to tie the match at 15-all.

The Spartans never trailed again.

On the next point, a Rebel attack was deflected by Lauren Zajac to Blythe again making a diving play to keep the ball alive, an errant bump that found its way to Brubaker once more, sending over a desperation attempt that planted just inside the line in front of G-R’s bench to give Grundy the 16-15 lead.

“I was freaking out, just trying to get it over,” said Brubaker. “I prayed for it to just be in, and I don’t think it could have been any better of a ball. … I think everyone knew at that moment that it was a sign that we were going to win, and that helped everyone kick it up a notch.”

A Spartan service error tied it up at 16-all, but kills by Brubaker and Charlee Kirkpatrick clinched the win for Grundy Center.

Brubaker, a 6-foot-8 junior, finished with 22 kills in the match, but underclassmen like Kirkpatrick (13 kills), Blythe (12) and Trinity Jirovsky (6) made for a diverse Spartan assault against a savvy, scrappy Gladbrook-Reinbeck team.

“We all just have a good connection with each other,” Brubaker said. “There’s points where I know I want the ball to put it away, but I know all the other girls can do it, too, they have those opportunities with our setters.”

The Rebels led 8-3 early in the first set and never gave up that advantage for a quick lead to start the match.

“We came in with energy and a gameplan, and the kids executed really well in that first set,” G-R head coach Paula Kelley said. “We were back on our heels a bit and didn’t have that same energy in sets two and three.”

Grundy Center came out with a spark in set two with a quick 10-4 lead and withstood some Rebel rallies to put G-R on the ropes going into set four.

“We got punched in the gut and started talking about how we could punch back,” Spartan head coach Lori Willis said. “We were super aggressive with our serving, made them move, aggressive with our swings, making smart choices, and playing defense and pursuing the ball, because we let too many balls hit the ground in set one.”

The Spartan lead was 23-19 in set four before the Rebels scored six points in a row, including back-to-back aces in a clutch service run by Kailey Larson, to force set five.

“We knew those girls had it in them, it’s something they proved at matches we had at camp where we were behind and were able to come back and win,” Kelley said.

Kennedy Brant had 22 kills to lead G-R, with nine each from Elly Sieh and Brinn Schneider. Sieh and Brant added 21 and 16 digs, respectively.

“They left it all out there,” Kelley said. “It’s hard for us to take the loss, but I’m not disappointed in them at all and very proud of how well they came out and played all night.”

Zajac, as one of the team captains along with Allison Koch, said Tuesday’s win was an indication of what this talented, young Spartans team is capable of.

“They definitely have a lot of motivation to win,” Zajac said. “And just knowing that we’ve all got each other’s back, I think we’re doing really well.”