West near-perfect in MVC volleyball win

CEDAR RAPIDS - No. 2 is No. 1 again in the Mississippi Valley Conference.Second-ranked Iowa City West dusted No. 4 Dubuque Hempstead in two games, 25-18 and 25-19, to repeat as MVC volleyball tournament champion Saturday at the Cedar Rapids Jefferson gym.The tournament featured seven teams in the Class 4A top 10 and another - Dubuque Wahlert - No. 6 in 3A. All eight ranked teams survived pool play and reached the championship bracket quarterfinals.Despite the illustrious field, West Coach Kathy Bresnahan said her team did not feel pressure to repeat.“Our kids don't get tight. I've never seen them nervous,” she said. “We were a little sick and we didn't play with a lot of energy, especially in (pool play).”West (34-2) won all six games in pool play and six of seven in bracket play. The only loss was in the quarterfinals, 25-23, to No. 9 Linn-Mar.“I think we felt more pressure after we won last week,” Bresnahan said of the 24-team Jefferson Invitational that featured top ranked teams from all classes. “That was such a big tournament. We knew we'd have teams gunning for us.”One of those teams was No. 3 Cedar Rapids Kennedy. West destroyed the Cougars in two straight games in last week's championship but faced a much stiffer test in the MVC semifinals. West scored the final three points to win the first game, 27-25, then took the second, 25-20.“We've come back against Kennedy before,” Bresnahan said, “so we knew we could do it again. Volleyball is such a mental game.”“That was a game that could have went either way,” Kennedy Coach Michelle Goodall said of the loss to West. “It's tough to face No. 2 in the semis. I would have much rather played them in the finals.”Seeding was done according to conference standings.  Kennedy, which is third in the Mississippi Division, found itself on the same side of the bracket as West, which is tied with Hempstead for first place in the same division.West and Hempstead meet again Tuesday night at Dubuque for the division title. Both teams are unbeaten in conference play. No. 8 Cedar Rapids Washington pulled the only upset in the quarters, dropping No. 5 Iowa City High, 25-16, 26-24.By Mike Koolbeck News correspondent