Nevada storms past West Liberty in quarterfinal round

CEDAR RAPIDS – This year, Nevada is taking the next step.

Stung by last year's quarterfinal loss to Union Community, the third-ranked Cubs charged into the state tournament Wednesday and swept No. 7 West Liberty, 25-21, 25-21, 25-20, in a Class 3A state quarterfinal Wednesday at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'I think it definitely gave us something to prove this year,” Nevada junior Kati Cassabaum said. 'It has motivated us a lot. None of us want to have that feeling again.”

Nevada (39-9) will play Solon (31-8) in Thursday's 3A semifinal at 2 p.m.

Cassabaum was strong on the front line for the Cubs. The 6-foot middle hitter ranks third in Class 3A in blocks, but did a lot of damage with strong kills against the West Liberty defense. With her team clinging to a 22-21 lead in Game 1, Cassabaum peppered West Liberty with three-straight kills and a 25-21 win. Nevada closed Game 2 with a 10-4 surge and set the stage for the sweep with another 25-21 game.

'As a team, we had the mentality that we were going to win the first three and just come out and take it,” said Cassabaum, who finished with a game-high 17 kills said.

It was back-and-forth for much of Game 3, but with the game tied at 12-12 Cassabaum and Abby Stephenson helped the Cubs gain some distance with 10 of the next 13 points and a 22-15 lead.

'I never felt as a team that we dug a hole for ourselves,” Stephenson said. 'Coach (Will Baumann) just kept telling us that we've got to play our game, doing our thing because we know they couldn't stop us if we do what we do best.”

Stephenson had seven kills and 12 digs. Senior Michaela Matuska added 32 assists and two blocks.

West Liberty (37-6) struggled to maintain its offensive flow, underlined by just 22 assists from junior setter Cassedi Simon. Simon ranks sixth in Class 3A in assists.

'We couldn't get our passing to the net,” West Liberty Coach Ruben Galvan said. 'That kind of took Cassedi (Simon) away, she's a big part of our offense and we didn't allow her to get involved as an offensive player. It was easy for them to key up on our hitters.”

Senior Kayla Kaalberg led the Comets with nine kills. Senior Molly Kelly, the 3A leader in digs, led with 17 for West Liberty. While she moves on to further her volleyball career at the University of Iowa, she implores the Comets to build on this experience.

'I'm going to tell our girls who still have more years here to finish what we started,” Kelly said. 'They have the opportunity to come back and win the gold here.”