Cedar Falls ends Kennedy’s ride

CEDAR RAPIDS - For the Kennedy Cougars, the ride was substantially better than the outcome.

Third-ranked Cedar Falls was a little bigger, a little quicker and a little better than No. 9 Cedar Rapids Kennedy, eliminating the Cougars in four sets (25-22, 25-20, 16-25, 25-20) in a Class 5A quarterfinal at the state volleyball tournament Tuesday afternoon at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'They had more drive than they did last time we played them (a Kennedy sweep, which ultimately decided the MVC Valley Division race),” said Kennedy's Macy Anderson.

Cedar Falls (37-4) prevailed for the third time in four meetings against the Cougars (29-10). The pivotal moment came at the end of the first set, when Alicia Harrington posted two kills and a block in a five-point surge to erase a 22-20 deficit.

'We've been wanting to play Kennedy for a long time,” Harrington said. 'We were able to find things they didn't do so well, where they wanted to hit, vulnerable spots in their defense.”

Harrington finished with 19 kills to lead all attackers.

Cedar Falls led throughout the second set, then Kennedy returned the favor, bolting to a 7-1 lead and maintaining the advantage. Anderson and Emma Boote did most of the damage after the Tigers closed within 16-12.

'The third set, we used a different rotation, and it seemed to help a lot,” said Kennedy setter Anna Fluent. 'But they were playing at the top of their level today.”

The Tigers quickly regained control in Game 4, using a 7-1 run to take a 12-8 lead. They stayed in front the rest of the way.

Cedar Falls will face No. 2 Bettendorf (34-2) in the semifinals at 10 a.m. Thursday.

The Cougars sat through a half-day of school Tuesday, then departed after their sendoff in a limousine for their trek downtown. They captured a divisional title for the first time since 2006, then broke through and made it to state after three straight regional-final defeats.

'It didn't end how we wanted, or when we wanted,” Brinley Milbrath said. 'But overall, it was a great season.”

Anderson added 13 kills for the Cougars. Boote and Franck added 12 apiece. Fluent registered 43 assists.

Emma Gerdes posted 12 kills for Cedar Falls to supplement Harrington's 19.

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