North Tama libero Addy Hochstetler (front row, fourth from left) surrounded by her teammates on Saturday, Oct. 18, during the Iowa Star Conference Volleyball Gold Bracket Tournament at GMG High School in Garwin. Hochstetler collected her 2,000th career dig during the tournament while also remaining atop the standings across all classes this season for serve aces. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
GARWIN – North Tama volleyball senior libero Addison (Addy) Hochstetler collected her 2,000th career dig on Saturday, Oct. 18, at GMG High School while playing in the Iowa Star Conference Volleyball Gold Bracket Tournament.
The Class 1A No. 3 Redhawks earned silver in the tournament by sweeping both Don Bosco (21-14, 21-9) and Cedar Ridge Christian (21-15, 21-18) to secure a spot in the championship match but ultimately couldn’t quite overcome No. 2 Janesville 2-1 (19-21, 21-17, 15-10) for the title.
On the day, Hochstetler accumulated 30 digs – half of those against the Wildcats in the final. She also went 8-for-8 at the line of service against Janesville, including two aces.
Heading into this week, Hochstetler was No. 6 in Class 1A for total number of digs with 409. She leads in all classes for serve aces with 98, a full 20 ahead of the nearest competitor, Mormon Trail sophomore Gracyn Newton (78).
Following a first-round bye, North Tama (25-13, 7-0) is set to begin regional play at home this Wednesday, Oct. 22, in a Class 1A Region 3 quarterfinal against BGM (12-9), the victor of Monday evening’s (Oct. 20) Hillcrest Academy (16-11) v. BGM match. If the Redhawks advance to the semifinals set for Oct. 27, they will again play at home.
The regional final will be played on Wednesday, Oct. 29, at a neutral site. Region 3 also includes No. 13 Cedar Ridge Christian along with Belle Plaine, English Valleys, HLV-TC, Highland, Iowa Valley, Keota, Lone Tree, Montezuma, North Mahaska, and Twin Cedars — all unranked.