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MUSCATINE, Iowa – North Scott’s volleyball team threw a block party Tuesday night.

As a result, Muscatine’s 21-match winning streak came to a halt with a 19-25, 25-23, 24-26, 15-25 Mississippi Athletic Conference loss to the Lancers at the Muscatine Fieldhouse.

“They really had our number when it came to the block,” Muscatine coach Laura Proffitt said. “We really had trouble adjusting to it. In all honesty, I don’t think we’ve faced a block like that since Bettendorf (Aug. 27).

“It’s definitely something we’re going to work on in practice, adjusting to the block, reading the block and picking up our offense a little bit.”

No. 15 Muscatine, which hadn’t lost since dropping a match to Davenport Central on Sept. 8, had trouble containing North Scott’s Courtney Holmes, Kayla Hamilton and Carrie Kilen.

The frontline trio teamed for 13 blocks, including eight in the final game.

“It was a little bit intimidating because anytime you go up, you had to be careful where you the hit the ball so it

wasn’t straight into the block,” Muscatine junior outside hitter Allison Curry said.

North Scott coach Jen Kramer was ecstatic with her team’s performance up front, particularly against Muscatine’s top two hitters – Haylie Franklin and Emily Hasken.

“We blocked fabulously,” Kramer said. “I’ve got some strong girls up there, and they’re just doing a good job of reading the hitters. It made all the difference in the world for us tonight.”

 The Lancers came into the match with a 5-17 overall mark and 3-4 in the MAC, but they were determined from the start. North Scott tallied the final seven points to win the opening game, 25-19.

Even in Game 2, the Lancers had the set tied at 23 before the Muskies claimed the last two points.

“(North Scott) surprised me,” Proffitt said. “They really did.”

“We’ve been saying, ‘Wait until October, wait until October,’” Kramer said. “We had a lot of growing to do, but they really came together as a team tonight. Everything just fell together.”

The turning point came late in the third game. Thanks to three kills from Curry in a short span, Muscatine (25-4, 5-3) built a 23-20 advantage.

Hamilton retaliated with two kills and a block for the Lancers to give them a 24-23 lead.

Franklin tied it with a tip kill before North Scott’s Chloe Gumpert and a Muskie error provided the Lancers with a 2-1 lead.

“That was a huge momentum push,” Kramer said. “If we wouldn’t have come back there, it could have been a totally different outcome. We pulled together.”

The fourth game was tied at 8 until North Scott went on an 11-2 flurry to all but seal Muscatine’s fate.

Franklin led Muscatine’s offense with 17 kills, while Curry had 10 and Hasken chipped in eight. The Muskies were 75-for-79 serving.

“We did a lot of things really well, but North Scott had our number,” Proffitt said. “They were hitting holes in our defense most of the night. We need to work on adjusting to things in the moment.”

Curry and Proffitt believe a loss can eventually be a positive for the Muskies with regionals looming.

“It always a letdown to lose, but you learn from it every time,” Curry said.

“You get used to winning and it’s not a great thing,” Proffitt said. “You want the girls to have that fighting attitude; you want them to really get after it every single game from the start.

“We don’t like to lose, but we’re going to learn a lot from this.”

North Scott 25-23-26-25

Muscatine 19-25-24-15

Statistics

Kills – North Scott (Chloe Gumpert 12, Courtney Holmes 11, Kayla Hamilton 10, Emily Hermiston 6); Muscatine (Haylie Franklin 17, Allison Curry 10, Emily Hasken 8). Blocks – North Scott (Holmes 7, Hamilton 3, Carrie Kilen 3); Muscatine (Hasken 3). Serving – Muscatine (Hasken 17-18, Ashley Hogenson 14-14, Franklin 13-13, Jordan Walgren 11-11, Curry 10-12, 2 aces, Julie Wunder 10-11). Digs – Muscatine (Franklin 16, Hogenson 14, Wunder 10, Walgren 10). Assists – Muscatine (Wunder 27, Franklin 5).

Records – North Scott 6-17, 4-4; MHS 25-4, 5-3.

Next – Muscatine is at the Mediapolis tournament on Thursday.