Spartan season ends in sweep by CR-B

 COON RAPIDS (Oct. 23) -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton was unable to recover from a hard-fought loss in the opening set Monday night, falling to Coon Rapids-Bayard 23-25, 16-25, 19-25 in a Class 1A regional quarterfinal on the Crusaders’ home floor.
 The Spartans finished the season with a match record of 15-18 while CR-B (20-13) advanced to face CAM (15-18) in Thursday’s regional semifinals. The opposite half of the bracket features a pair of ranked teams in No. 8 North Tama and No. 11 Montezuma.
 Errors proved costly for Exira-EHK Monday as the Spartans finished with seven service errors to just two aces and had a team kill efficiency of only 10 percent.
 Sydnee Young led the team with 10 kills while Sophia Peppers had eight kills and setter Bailey Robertson added three to go with her 22 assists. Dig leaders for the Spartans included Peppers with eight, Michaela Hartvigsen seven and Jolene Jensen, Robertson and Young with four apiece.
 The Spartans will lose six seniors off this year’s squad in Grace Greving, Hartvigsen, Jensen, Peppers, Robertson and Young.