North Scott ends Clear Creek Amana’s run at perfection in the 4A state volleyball semifinals

CORALVILLE — Bliss Beck was heartbroken, but willing to give credit where it was due.

“We might have been a little fearful, but that was such a good team,” she said. “And they come out guns a-blazing.”

Fourth-ranked North Scott accumulated twice as many kills as Clear Creek Amana, and stunned the No. 1 Clippers, 25-19, 25-15, 25-21, in a Class 4A semifinal at the state volleyball tournament Wednesday afternoon at Xtream Arena.

“We’re aggressive. We’re not timid,” North Scott’s Abbey Hayes said after a 20-kill performance. “Our goal from the beginning of the season was to get past the semifinals ... and to beat Clear Creek Amana.”

The Lancers (28-4) avenged a 2022 semifinal loss to Clear Creek Amana, and advanced to Thursday’s 4A final opposite No. 2 Indianola (38-4 and a five-set winner over No. 6 Lewis Central).

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State volleyball photos: Clear Creek Amana vs. North Scott

First serve is 12:15 p.m.

Play like they did Wednesday, and the Lancers will be extremely tough to stop.

“We came in like, ‘Let’s have fun out there,’” Hayes said. “This was the environment we wanted to be in, and we were going to give it our all.”

Clear Creek Amana retired at 46-1. The Clippers got out to an 11-7 lead in the opening set, but were on their heels the rest of the way.

North Scott scored the next four points to tie it at 11-11, then broke away from a 15-15 deadlock with five points in a row.

The Lancers dominated Game 2, then made the plays late in the finale to complete the sweep.

CCA still had a glimmer of hope at 20-20, but the Lancers closed on a 5-1 run behind two kills from Kaci Johnson.

Hayes led North Scott in kills, but you could argue that Johnson was the player of the match. She collected 13 kills (without a single error) in 23 swings, and also contributed 26 assists.

“(CCA) wanted to block the pins, and that opened up a lot in the middle,” Johnson said.

The final kill count was North Scott 54, CCA 27. The efficiency ledger was .215 to .085.

Beck led the Clippers with 10 kills, but was third on the team in swings — never a good sign.

A Drake University recruit, Beck and libero Meg Berkland (23 digs) highlighted a dynamite senior class that lifted the CCA program to unprecedented heights.

“It was a great season,” Berkland said. “We had some great wins. Our seniors were really tight, a real joy to be around.”

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com