Marks made in Osage post-season sweep

By Kristi Nixon

OSAGE — Both Claudia Aschenbrenner and Jaden Francis were out to make a mark.

The junior duo for the Class 2A No. 9 Osage volleyball team each reached a milestone in the Green Devils’ 25-10, 25-12, 25-9 win over South Winneshiek on Wednesday, Oct. 20.

Aschenbrenner reached the 500-kill mark by coming out motivated against the Lady Warriors, notching the first three kills of the match en route to 14 total.

“It’s post-season, we just wanted to show other teams that we’re not here to mess around,” Aschenbrenner said. “We’re here to play strong with whoever we play. Being able to hit as hard as I can is always a good motivator.”

Francis, who reached 800 digs, said she didn’t know her milestone was coming up.

“I was not expecting that at all,” Francis said. “Obviously, I knew that I had quite a few, but not that many. It helps that I started my freshman year, every single year I get around 300.”

Both looked motivated to get things done against an 11-win South Winneshiek team.

“We talked about some things we wanted to do in practice for a while now,” coach Bryan Tabbert said, “and we accomplished those goals for ourselves tonight.

“Both of those girls have played a lot of hours, started since freshman year, getting up there on the list for Osage. Big milestones tonight. Excited to see what they can do next year.”

Meredith Street added 10 kills and Addy Grimm was 17-for-18 with three aces. She also led the team in assists.

The reward for the win is Lake Mills on Monday, Oct. 25, which swept Central Springs.

“Lake Mills is a solid team, they are well-coached with Jim Boehmer there,” coach Tabbert said. “I think that will be a hard-fought match. We played them in the post-season a few years ago. Before that, it’s been a while since we’ve seen Lake Mills.

Tabbert admitted that the road to state this year will be a tougher one than his team has seen of late.

“This is a tougher road than we are used to,” Tabbert said, “but whatever hand we’re dealt, we’ve got to deal with it. Keep pushing.”

Francis added, “That is going to be a very fun match. I remember my freshman year we played them and that was the most exciting game ever. They are definitely a good team to play good competition. I think we can do it.”

This story will be updated for the Oct. 30 print edition of the Enterprise Journal