Iowa City West captures the championship pool of the MVC volleyball tournament

CEDAR FALLS — The championship pool of the Mississippi Valley Conference volleyball tournament came down to the last match.

The last stretch.

Taylor Otte’s time to shine.

“We really turned on the jets at the end,” Iowa City West setter Lila Eastvold said. “And Taylor was an automatic kill.”

Class 5A Iowa City West scored the final six points — Otte was responsible for three of them — and outlasted No. 10 Cedar Falls in the final match, 25-23, 23-25, 15-10.

That capped a 3-0 night for the Trojans (25-5).

Consider this: West had endured seven consecutive losing seasons prior to this fall. Now, it stands atop the MVC.

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“We don’t talk about the past,” first-year coach Jaedynn Evans said. “We talk about the good things to come.”

Maybe the Trojans don’t discuss the past, but the past is necessary in this context ... this is West’s best squad since the Live Like Line days of 2011-12.

“These girls love each other,” Evans said. “It creates such a positive atmosphere. They deserve these great things.”

West opened Tuesday’s proceedings with straight-set victories over No. 9 Iowa City Liberty (25-20, 25-20) and Cedar Rapids Prairie (25-22, 25-15).

Cedar Falls (26-7), meanwhile, beat both of those teams in three sets.

The Tigers led the final set 10-9 before Otte went on auto-kill.

Her kill squared the set at 10, then her block put the Trojans ahead to stay.

Then it was an ace by Sophia Austen, a block by Eastvold and a kill by freshman Cyan Blommer to get West to match point.

Otte, fittingly, did the honors.

“It felt like we really connected that last set,” said Otte, a sophomore transfer from Williamsburg.

Liberty (23-10) salvaged its final match of the night, against Prairie (18-19).

Three for Thursday

The other area “core four” conferences will hold the championship portion of their tournaments Thursday:

WAMAC (at Solon)

Instead of the traditional pool-to-bracket two-day tournament, all 12 teams will be involved in a four-round, bracket-only format.

Class 4A top-ranked Clear Creek Amana (36-3), the West Division champion, headlines a deep-as-always field.

Five other teams are ranked, including 4A No. 8 Solon (26-8), the East Division champion.

In addition to the Clippers and the Spartans, West Delaware (28-10) and Grinnell (14-15) earned first-round byes.

The first round is at 4 p.m., followed by the quarterfinals at 5. Semifinals are scheduled for 7; the championship match at 8.

RIVER VALLEY (at West Liberty)

Defending champion Dyersville Beckman (28-6) faces a challenging path. The 2A fifth-rated Blazers were upset by Tipton in pool play Monday, and must face the Tigers (23-4) right away in the quarterfinals.

The winner of that match most likely would face 3A No. 7 Mid-Prairie (25-8) in the semifinals.

Surging Iowa City Regina (26-12, 2A No. 8) faces Wilton (25-6, 3A No. 13) in a bottom-bracket quarterfinal dandy.

First-round matches are at 4 and 5 p.m., with semifinals at 7 and the championship at 8:15.

TRI-RIVERS (at Edgewood)

Class 1A 10th-ranked Springville (20-12) is the favorite, but the West Division-champion Orioles don’t have a shortage of challengers. It starts with Starmont (11-11) in the first round.

Lisbon (31-8) is the East Division champ, and is likely to advance to face Maquoketa Valley (16-12) or Edgewood-Colesburg (20-15) in the semifinals.

First-round matches are at 4 and 5 p.m., with semifinals at 7 and the championship at 8.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com