Van Buren County’s volleyball team got its rematch — and this time, Daphny Wells was healthy.
The Warriors defeated Cardinal 3-0 Monday night, October 19th, in the first round of Class 2A Region 8 regionals, winning by set scores of 25-20, 25-12 and 25-17. Van Buren County captures their third victory on the season to move to 3-18 and will face ninth-ranked Regina Catholic (27-15) on Wednesday, October 21st in Iowa City. Cardinal’s season ends at 10-18, their most wins since going 15-23 in 2019 — an improvement from last season’s 7-23 record.
The victory carried extra weight given the history between the two programs. Cardinal had defeated Van Buren County 2-0 at the Centerville Tournament on September 12th — but that match was played without Wells for most of it, who sprained her ankle in the first set while the Warriors were up 14-9 and had already recorded three kills. Cardinal rallied to win after the injury. Monday’s regional matchup gave Van Buren County a chance to see what might have been.
Wells made the most of it, finishing with a season-high 15 kills to lead all players and earning player of the match honors from play-by-play announcer Shan Moquin.
Set-by-Set
The opening set was a back-and-forth affair from the start. The teams matched each other point for point through the early going, tied five separate times at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Van Buren County began to separate, building a 10-6 advantage, but Cardinal answered and knotted it again at 10. The Comets then went on a run of their own, pushing ahead 15-11 and extending that to 16-12 and then 18-15. It looked like Cardinal might take the set, but the Warriors clawed back, tying it at 19 and again at 20. From there, a Teagan Sickels service run finished the job, and Van Buren County closed out the set 25-20.
The second set was a statement. Van Buren County came out of the gates with a 5-1 burst and never looked back. A service run by Briley Losey pushed the lead to 9-2 and forced a Cardinal timeout, but it did little to slow the Warriors down. Van Buren County led 10-3, then 12-6, then 17-7, then 20-10 before closing out a dominant 25-12 win — doubling up Cardinal in the set.
Cardinal opened the third set with some early momentum, jumping out to a 5-2 lead and threatening to make things interesting. Van Buren County tied it at 5-5, then began to pull away. The Warriors led 11-7, pushed it to 17-9 and then 19-12 before finishing off the match 25-17. A well-timed timeout by Van Buren County head coach Shea Scott helped steady the ship when Cardinal made its early push, and the Warriors responded with the kind of composure that defined the night.
Van Buren County Stats
According to unofficial statistics kept by Shan Moquin during the broadcast, Wells led the Warriors with a season-high performance of 15 kills. Losey added six kills and two aces, Aida Troutman had five kills and five aces, Maddie Cocherell added three kills and one ace, Aubrey Loeffler had two aces and Sickels contributed one ace. As a team, Van Buren County finished with 29 kills, 12 aces and two blocks. The Warriors held Cardinal’s kill efficiency to -.148 as a team.
Cardinal Stats and Season in Review
Despite the loss, Cardinal’s key players showed significant growth from a year ago. Maelin Hickenbottom nearly doubled her assist totals, going from 102 assists in 2025 to 167 in 2026. She also saw a dramatic jump in kills, from 30 to 81 in the same span. Cady Greever climbed from 43 kills to 69, while Maclain Hickenbottom held steady with 63 kills in 2025 and 64 in 2026. Brayleigh Sparks continued to anchor the back row, finishing with 261 digs this season after recording 240 a year ago.
In Monday’s match specifically, Greever led Cardinal with three kills, followed by Maelin Hickenbottom with two. Kyra LaRue, Bella Schlotter, Bristol Albert, Maclain Hickenbottom and Kennedi Van Trump each added one kill. Schlotter finished with six assists and Maelin Hickenbottom had four. Brayleigh Sparks led the team with nine digs and Maclain Hickenbottom added seven. Greever and Schlotter each had five digs. LaRue and Greever each had two aces, while Schlotter and Albert each added one. LaRue, Albert and Maclain Hickenbottom each served at 100 percent on the night, with the team serving at 85.4 percent. Key returning players heading into next season include LaRue, Brayleigh Sparks, Schlotter and Maelin Hickenbottom.
Looking Ahead
Van Buren County will travel to Iowa City on Wednesday, October 21st to face ninth-ranked Regina Catholic, a program the Warriors have encountered before in postseason play in girls sports. Despite their 3-18 record, Scott said the team is entering the match with confidence after Monday’s performance.
Coach Scott’s Thoughts
Van Buren County head coach Shea Scott took some time after the match to speak with Shan Moquin, the Voice of the Warriors who did the play-by-play for the broadcast.
On the team’s mindset going into the match:
“We knew coming into this it would be 0-0 and I think that’s super important. I don’t care about the past, I don’t care about the future. I said you have six seconds every single rally in volleyball — those six seconds are super important. You’re not playing for me, you’re not playing for the fans, just play for each other. I feel like the biggest takeaway from that was just our culture. We came together. I saw my setter — she made a mistake, she went up to that hitter and was like, hey, that’s on me. Or between Ali and whoever getting the first ball or second ball, they were like, hey, that’s on me. And you know, as a coach, that makes me super proud. I feel like they just played together and they knew what to do.”
On the nerves in the first set:
“We started off that first set so timid. We were so nervous. I could just tell on their faces — some of the sophomores, this is their first ever district game for volleyball, and they’re like, I’m nervous. And I’m like, you know what, you’re not scared, your body’s just ready to compete. That’s what I told them. And I think once they kind of eased into it and realized, hey, my hits are going down, I can be aggressive, I don’t have to be so scared to make a mistake — then that second set showed us what we could really do. So that was super important.”
On the third-set timeout:
“I said, hey, don’t freak out. I’m just trying to maybe have everybody take a deep breath. Hey, we’re gonna finish this game. We have to push right here and I trust you more than anything. Go do it. Literally, that’s what I said, and they did it.”
On Wells’ performance:
“She wanted this win so bad. And I feel like she should have had a couple more kills, but I don’t think the ref saw it that way. I feel like there were a couple hits that definitely had a touch but they didn’t call it that way. But that’s okay — we battled back and we stayed calm. I think for Daphny, she realized that there was a low block, and so she wanted the ball to travel as low as she could — it’s more comfortable to hit. And I think naturally it just went off their hands. They don’t have a high block, so she took her sweet time and waited till that sweet spot right above the net and slammed it. I feel like it did hit some of their hands, but it worked. I’m so proud of her. She did great.”
On the rest of the offense:
“They knew their role. They were just super calm. It didn’t matter what the score was — their fundamentals were probably the best I’ve seen all season. I could just tell on their faces that they had that next-ball mentality. They weren’t in their heads. They just knew, okay, I need to pass this ball for us to get this side out. And it happened. Sometimes when you simplify it, it works.”
On facing Regina Catholic:
“I heard Daphny say it best — she’s like, our record doesn’t show at all who we are. Let them come in thinking we have a horrible record, that we’re horrible. But I think we can put up a fight and we’re going to do some scouting on them tomorrow. With that confidence, I don’t care about what they do. I care about what we do, and as long as we pick up the pieces tonight and stay confident, it should be a good match.”
You can rewatch the action against Cardinal here.
