TRAER – The unranked Gladbrook-Reinbeck volleyball team nearly toppled No. 3 North Tama in the second set of Monday’s Class 1A Region 6 semifinal, but ultimately fell short in a riveting 3-0 sweep by the Redhawks in Traer.

After dropping the first set, 25-15, fairly swiftly to their in-county rivals, G-R battled back in the second set, tying the score at 3-3 and then 5-5 before pulling ahead briefly twice. North Tama tied it up again at 10-10 and then remained ahead by one to two points for much of the rest of the set.

In the final stretch, the Rebels evened the score at 19-19, 21-21, 22-22 and 23-23 – drawing thunderous reactions from the visiting crowd each time – before the Redhawks ultimately won 25-23 by blocking G-R senior outside hitter Ayla Baer’s final attack.

The third set began with a 3-0 Rebel lead, but that was the last time the Redhawks trailed. North Tama began to build a commanding cushion, eventually extending their advantage to 24-10.

At match point, North Tama outside hitter Alaney Sienknecht – recently named the Iowa Star-South Division’s Co-Player of the Year – sent a kill past the Rebel defense, landing under the net in the process. Both the Redhawks and their fans began to celebrate in response, but the revelry was cut short when a center line fault was called on Sienknecht, awarding the point to G-R.

The Rebels then scored five unanswered points against the Redhawks before North Tama finally laid down the hammer, winning the set 25-16 to earn a trip to the regional championship.

Statistics were not available for either team in time for publication.

In a post-game interview with the newspaper, North Tama head coach Channing Halstead praised the Rebels, particularly for their determination in the second set.

“G-R forced us into some mistakes that we haven’t made in a while,” she said. “They kind of changed the tempo on us. We had one too many errors.”

She also praised G-R senior setter Kailey Larsen for her playmaking that evening.

“Their setter makes their whole team better. She puts the set on the money and lets her outsides be more effective.”

“She trusted her hitters 100%,” assistant coach Karisa Kladivo added of Larsen.

Later in the week on Wednesday, Oct. 28, the Redhawks (29-13) were defeated by No. 13 West Monona (24-8) at Webster City High School in the Class 1A Region 6 championship, missing out on a seventh trip to the state tournament.

After sweeping Meskwaki Settlement in the opening round and defeating HVL, 3-1, in a quarterfinal match to earn a spot in the regional semifinals alongside North Tama, the Rebels close out the 2026-27 season with a 19-21 record.