Mustangs beat West once more

[HTML1]IOWA CITY - They nearly pulled it off.The Mount Vernon Mustangs won so quickly, so convincingly, they almost avoided the traffic logjam on Melrose Avenue following the Iowa State-Iowa football game late Saturday afternoon.Class 3A No. 1 Mount Vernon swept its way through the West Volleyball Extravaganza, beating 4A No. 3 Iowa City West, 25-21, 25-10 in the final.It marked the third straight year the Mustangs overcame West in the title match.“This is always a fun tournament. There's great competition here,” said Mount Vernon all-stater Ali Stark, one of three Division-I recruits on her team (she has committed to play at the University of Illinois). “It's good to play against this level of competition and find out what our weaknesses are.”There aren't many.Mount Vernon (13-0) overcame a lull late in the first game, in which it saw a 21-12 lead melt to 23-21 before closing it out. The Mustangs responded by scoring the first 10 points in the second set and constructing a 15-1 margin.“We knew we didn't want to play the way we did at the end of the first game,” Stark said. “We wanted to play at our pace. Our defense really stepped up, and our all-around play improved.”UNI recruit Courtney Kintzel led the Mustangs with nine kills, Amanda Platte (Drake) added seven and Stark notched six. The Mustangs collected seven blocks in the final.It wasn't the kills or the blocks to which West Coach Kathy Bresnahan pointed afterward.“See what happens when you can't serve-receive?” she said. “When we pass, we're a decent team. When we don't, we're average.“But we did make steps today. We're growing, and we're going to be fun to watch by the end of the year.”Mount Vernon converted all 48 of its serves, four for aces.West (13-3) didn't lead in either set, but a late rush made the Mustangs sweat late in Game 1. Olivia Fairfield's kill brought the Women of Troy within 23-21, but back-to-back kills by Taylor Dicus and Kintzel closed out the set.Neither Mount Vernon nor West met much resistance on their paths to the final. The Mustangs did face a 16-15 deficit in Game 2 against Waterloo Columbus in the quarterfinals, but closed with a 10-1 run to win going away.The Mustangs then downed Marshalltown, 25-9, 25-11, in the semifinals while West handled 3A No. 5 Pella, 25-20, 25-9.West's Shelly Stumpff collected 39 kills throughout the day; setter Caroline Found distributed 117 assists.

IOWA CITY WEST EXTRAVAGANZA

Pool A - 1. Iowa City West 3-0, 2. Pella Christian 2-1, 3. Dyersville Beckman 1-2, 4. North Cedar 0-3.Iowa City West def. North Cedar, 21-7, 21-6Pella Christian def. Beckman, 21-14, 21-5Iowa City West def. Beckman, 21-13, 21-17Pella Christian def. North Cedar, 21-10, 21-13Beckman def. North Cedar, 21-16, 21-9Iowa City West def. Pella Christian, 21-13, 21-14

Pool B - 1. Mount Vernon 3-0, 2. Dubuque Wahlert 2-1, 3. Davenport Central 1-2, 4. Benton Community 0-3.Mount Vernon def. Benton Community, 21-8, 21-6Dubuque Wahlert def. Davenport Central, 21-12, 21-14Mount Vernon def. Davenport Central, 21-7, 21-10Dubuque Wahlert def. Benton Community, 21-10, 21-10Davenport Central def. Benton Community, 21-13, 21-15Mount Vernon def. Dubuque Wahlert, 21-9, 21-15

Pool C - 1. Pella 3-0, 2. Marshalltown 2-1, 3. Waterloo Columbus 1-2, 4. Davenport North 0-3.Pella def. Davenport North, 21-11, 21-8Marshalltown def. Waterloo Columbus, 21-16, 21-15Waterloo Columbus def. Pella, 21-16, 21-8Marshalltown def. Davenport North, 23-21, 21-9Waterloo Columbus def. Davenport North, 21-13, 21-12Pella def. Marshalltown, 19-21, 21-18, 15-9

Consolation SemifinalsDavenport Central def. Davenport North, 25-22, 25-19Benton Community def. North Cedar, 25-23, 25-16

Consolation FinalDavenport Central def. Benton Community, 25-19, 25-19

QuarterfinalsMount Vernon def. Waterloo Columbus, 25-10, 25-17Marshalltown def. Pella Christian, 25-23, 21-25, 15-4Pella def. Dubuque Wahlert, 25-14, 25-20Iowa City West def. Beckman, 25-14, 25-12

SemifinalsMount Vernon def. Marshalltown, 25-9, 25-11Iowa City West def. Pella, 25-20, 25-9

ChampionshipMount Vernon def. Iowa City West, 25-21, 25-10