Cedar Falls tops Jefferson for MVC volleyball tournament title

IOWA CITY — If you're into the 'eye test' thing, take a look at Cedar Falls.

Tall and athletic, the Tigers resemble a collegiate team. Then you hear about their future plans and, well, that's not such a stretch.

A squad with four Division-I commitments, the Class 5A top-ranked Tigers marched through the Mississippi Valley Conference tournament Saturday at Iowa City High.

'They're going to be tough to stop,' Cedar Rapids Jefferson Coach Amy Norton said after the Tigers downed the fourth-rated J-Hawks, 25-21, 25-13, in the championship match.

Cedar Falls (38-2) was the 5A state runner-up last year. The Tigers have future college players in Taylor Lynch (Illinois State), Grace Burken (Wichita State), Claire Gerdes (South Dakota) and Tayah Mahi (UNI).

'We have so many talented players. We get to challenge ourselves every day,' Lynch said.

The title match was a battle between the league's two divisional champions.

'We were excited to play Jefferson because they're ranked in the top five and we haven't seen them yet this year,' Lynch said. 'They're really good defensively, so you have to be ready to put multiple swings on the ball.'

Jefferson (37-6) hung with the Tigers for a while. It was 14-14 before Cedar Falls strung together five straight points to take the lead for good. The J-Hawks scratched within 21-20 and 22-21 before a couple of errors stopped the rally.

The second set wasn't as competitive.

'I think we just got in our own head, knowing they're No. 1 and all that,' Jefferson setter Maddy Baxter said. 'We can compete with them. We can compete with anybody.'

Maddie Slagle said, 'They're good. They were a lot more in system than we were. I'd definitely like to play them again.'

If they do, it will likely be in the state semifinals or championship match.

Cedar Falls didn't drop a set all day. Jefferson survived a three-setter against Iowa City West in pool play, then outlasted No. 5 Linn-Mar in the semifinals, 25-16, 21-25, 15-7.

'That was big because it will determine a lot with final rankings,' Slagle said.

Last year's MVC tournament champion, Linn-Mar (28-10) went 2-1 in pool play, then beat Dubuque Hempstead in the quarterfinals.

'A good day for us, better than we've had in a while,' Linn-Mar Coach Teresa Bair said. 'We were more vocal today. We threw in some new stuff and the kids handled it well.

'In the third set against Jefferson, we let them dictate the tempo and made some hitting errors.'

Other area teams reaching the championship bracket were Cedar Rapids Xavier (29-9), Cedar Rapids Prairie (20-15) and Iowa City West (21-15).

Iowa City High (15-16) won the consolation bracket.

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

At Iowa City High & Iowa City Liberty

POOL A

Teams — 1. C.R. Jefferson 3-0, 2. Iowa City West 1-2, 3. Iowa City High 1-2, 4. Dubuque Senior 1-2.

Iowa City West def. Iowa City High, 21-12, 21-15

C.R. Jefferson def. Dubuque Senior, 21-8, 21-3

Iowa City High def. Dubuque Senior, 21-11, 21-13

C.R. Jefferson def. Iowa City West, 21-13, 8-21, 15-9

Dubuque Senior def. Iowa City West, 10-21, 21-18, 15-11

C.R, Jefferson def. Iowa City High, 21-11, 21-14

POOL B

Teams — 1. Cedar Falls 3-0, 2. Linn-Mar 2-1, 3. C.R. Washington 1-2, 4. Waterloo West 0-3.

Linn-Mar def. C.R. Washington, 21-11, 21-14

Cedar Falls def. Waterloo West, 21-9, 21-5

Linn-Mar def. Waterloo West, 21-9, 21-4

Cedar Falls def. C.R. Washington, 21-12, 21-8

C.R. Washington def. Waterloo West, 21-11, 21-16

Cedar Falls def. Linn-Mar, 21-16, 21-13

POOL C

Teams — 1. Dubuque Wahlert 3-0, 2. C.R. Prairie 1-2, 3. Waterloo East 0-3.

Dubuque Wahlert def. Waterloo East, 21-8, 21-15

C.R. Prairie def. Waterloo East, 21-12, 18-21, 15-9

Dubuque Wahlert def. C.R. Prairie, 21-13, 21-10

POOL D

Teams — 1. Dubuque Hempstead 3-0, 2. C.R. Xavier 2-1, 3. C.R. Kennedy 0-3.

Dubuque Hempstead def. C.R. Kennedy 21-8, 21-8

C.R. Xavier def. C.R. Kennedy, 21-14, 21-13

Dubuque Hempstead def. C.R. Xavier, 21-15, 22-20

C-D Cross-Divisional Matches

Dubuque Wahlert def. C.R. Kennedy, 21-14, 21-15

C.R. Xavier def. C.R. Prairie, 21-12, 21-7

Dubuque Hempstead def. Waterloo East, 21-14, 21-20

Consolation Quarterfinals

C.R. Kennedy def. Waterloo West, 25-14, 25-22

Waterloo East def. Dubuque Senior, 25-17, 25-18

Consolation Semifinals

Iowa City High def. C.R. Kennedy, 25-22, 26-24

C.R. Washington def. Waterloo East, 25-15, 25-13

Consolation Final

Iowa City High def. C.R. Washington, 25-16, 25-21

Quarterfinals

C.R. Jefferson def. C.R. Prairie, 25-12, 25-9

Linn-Mar def. Dubuque Hempstead, 25-21, 25-23

Cedar Falls def. C.R. Xavier, 25-15, 25-17

Dubuque Wahlert def. Iowa City West, 22-25, 25-17, 15-10

Semifinals

C.R. Jefferson def. Linn-Mar, 25-16, 21-25, 15-7

Cedar Falls def. Dubuque Wahlert, 25-20, 25-11

Championship

Cedar Falls def. C.R. Jefferson, 25-21, 25-13

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