West sweeps its way to state

MARION — It was a stirring, stunning, edge-of-your-seat comeback.

But in the end, it was a mere footnote.

No. 11 Iowa City West answered an 11-point run by No. 10 Linn-Mar to claim the second set, and eventually swept the Lions, 25-23, 29-27, 26-24, in a Class 5A volleyball regional final Tuesday night at Linn-Mar High School.

'We lost it there for a while,' said West setter Maddie Fay. 'We had to come back and get it right back.'

West (27-11) avenged two regular-season losses to the Lions and advanced to state for the 12th time, the second year in a row. The Women of Troy will face No. 2 Bettendorf (33-2) in a 5A first-round match next Tuesday at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'There were some non-believers, some naysayers out there,' West Coach Randy Dolson said. 'We lost a lot of experience from last year, and we started a little slower than we should have. But we hung in there.'

And they hung in there when they were on the brink of a cataclysmic loss in the second set Tuesday.

West led the set, 24-14, before the Lions (28-9) went on an improbable run behind the serve of Emilee McGowan as a crescendo gradually built. Amanda Ollinger's offspeed kill knotted the set at 24, then the Lions had set point at 25-24, 26-25 and 27-26.

Colby Greene's kill knotted it at 27, then West scored the next two points on Linn-Mar errors.

'We were the ones making mental errors (as Linn-Mar rallied),' said West's Emma Norris. 'We wanted to put it in the court and let them make mistakes.'

Linn-Mar had a chance for a huge momentum boost, but let it get away.

'If we'd won the second set, we'd have won the match,' Linn-Mar setter Ellie Anderson said. 'I just know it.'

Then, West played the rally card in the finale, coming back from a 23-19 deficit behind the attacking of Chandler Haight, who put down four kills in a match-ending 7-1 run.

Ali Tauchen's kill was the winner.

All three sets were close, and West had more at the very end of each of them.

'Their athletic ability on the floor really showed tonight,' Lions Coach Teresa Kehe said. 'They had great leadership and they moved the ball well.

'We didn't execute. We game-planned, but we didn't do the things that got us here.'

West rallied from a 21-19 deficit and emerged from a 23-all tie in the opener. Tauchen's block accounted for the final point.

Norris led the Women of Troy with 11 kills. Haight and Greene added 10 apiece. Fay collected 41 assists.

Ollinger posted 14 kills for Linn-Mar; Anderson dished out 27 assists.

IOWA CITY WEST 3, LINN-MAR 0 (25-23, 29-27, 26-24)

Class 5A Regional Final, at Linn-Mar

Serving: West 71-77 (.922), Linn-Mar 68-74 (.919)

Aces: West 3 (three with 1), Linn-Mar 4 (Isabel Schminke 2)

Kills: West 47 (Emma Norris 11), Linn-Mar 39 (Amanda Ollinger 14)

Assists: West 44 (Maddie Fay 41), Linn-Mar 33 (Ellie Anderson 27)

Blocks: West 5 (Colby Greene, Emily Halverson 2), Linn-Mar 10 (Ollinger, Megan Renner 4).

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com