Western Christian makes its 17th straight state volleyball semifinal

CEDAR RAPIDS — Ashtyn Veerbeek's signing 'cememony' was in the presence of her parents only, in a Clarion Hotel room.

'I didn't want to make a big deal about it,' she said. 'My thoughts were on this.'

Hours after signing to play basketball at the University of Nebraska, Veerbeek stepped front and center at the U.S. Cellular Center and led the way as Western Christian extended a staggering streak.

Veerbeek pounded 20 kills as second-ranked Western overwhelmed No. 11 Iowa City Regina, 25-10, 25-20, 25-12, in a Class 2A quarterfinal at the state volleyball tournament Wednesday afternoon.

Western (39-6) advanced to the semifinals for the 17th consecutive year. Let that sink in a moment, the 17th consecutive year. And that run includes 16 trips to the finals and 10 championships.

'Seventeen in a row, it's mind-boggling,' said Western Coach Tammi Veerbeek. 'It's all these girls have known. And you look up in the stands and see a bunch of sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders just waiting for their chance.'

The Wolfpack will face No. 3 Grundy Center (37-6) at 4 p.m. Thursday. They took care of Regina (28-9) in 57 minutes.

'We haven't seen anyone with hitters like that,' Regina's Jaedynn Evans said. 'Our coaches hit at us a lot, but it's nothing close to that.'

Ashtyn Veerbeek went over 1,000 kills for her career. The Wolfpack's other middle hitter, Jessi De Jager, added 15, and the duo combined for a .458 kill efficiency. That's lethal.

'We typically try to spread the ball around more, but today, the middles were hot, and we kept going with what was working,' Coach Veerbeek said.

'We were really cranking on it,' De Jager said. 'Over and around them. Through them sometimes, too.'

Western dominated the first set, but Regina was in contention in the second for most of the way.

A six-point run gave the Regals a 14-12 advantage. The Regals were still tied at 18 before the Wolfpack sprinted away with a 7-2 surge.

Game 3 was a lot like the opener.

Evans and Alex Wiese collected seven kills apiece for the Regals.

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