Healthy and dangerous, Linn-Mar sweeps Jefferson

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Linn-Mar Lions have battled it all, from head to toe.

'We've had a lot of adversities ... concussions, sprained ankles, pinched nerves,” Megan Renner said.

For Carly Spies, it was the removal of a bone from the ball of her foot. She had surgery over the summer, and recovery was slow.

'It was from overuse,” she acknowledged. 'There's still some pain.”

The only emotion the Lions felt Tuesday was joy. Pure joy.

Fifth-ranked Linn-Mar avenged three regular-season losses to No. 4 Cedar Rapids Jefferson, and did so decisively with a 25-21, 25-23, 25-15 sweep in a Class 5A quarterfinal at the state volleyball tournament Tuesday afternoon at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'We've just been getting better and better. Healthier and healthier,” Lions Coach Teresa Bair said. 'And today, we executed what we wanted to do.”

The Lions (31-10) are the first Metro team to reach the big-school semifinals since 2011. They'll face top-ranked Cedar Falls (41-2) in an all-MVC encounter at 10 a.m. Thursday.

'We'll be big underdogs, but we'll give it our best shot and see what happens,” Bair said. 'That's why they play it, right?”

Linn-Mar fell into a 7-2 hole in the first set, but after that, the Lions were the superior team.

'We couldn't keep them out of system,” Jefferson libero Kaylee Donner said.

Donner walked into the press room, a boot on her left foot, the result of an injury (strained ligaments) sustained late last week.

'I'm not one to play down to injury,” she said. 'Adrenaline kind of took over.”

Jefferson (39-7) still led the opener, 15-13, before the Lions scored eight of the next nine points to take control.

The second set was tied at 21-all before a kill by Anna Gorsich and an attack error by Jefferson put the Lions in front by two. Ellie Von Lehmden got Linn-Mar to set point, then Spies' kill gave the Lions a 2-0 set lead, and Game 3 wasn't close.

Von Lehmden paced the Lions with 11 kills, and Spies added 10 kills and six blocks. Renner collected 30 assists.

The J-Hawks were making their first state trip in 20 years, and had taken three of four verdicts against the Lions throughout the season. A common theme had been the Lions' inability to slow Lindsey Culver on the right side of the net.

'With Carly healthy now, that really helps our blocking scheme,” Renner said. 'And our back row did a good job digging up balls.”

Culver still had a team-high nine kills, and Maddy Baxter distributed 28 assists. But Jefferson was guilty of 24 hitting errors and hit only .070 as a team.

'We never really got into a flow,” J-Hawks co-coach Will Norton said. 'Their serve-receive was better than it was earlier this season. That kept them in system, and their block is huge.”

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