Bears give Western a battle

CEDAR RAPIDS - They battled. They fought.

And in the end, they certainly belonged.

Fourth-ranked West Branch came within a whisker of taking perennial juggernaut Western Christian to an anything-can-happen fifth set, but the top-ranked Wolfpack got away, 25-20, 25-15, 19-25, 25-23, in a Class 2A semifinal at the state volleyball tournament Thursday afternoon at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'We were tested,” Wolfpack Coach Tammi Veerbeek said. 'Sometimes you have to go through some adversity, but we were able to win as a team.”

Western (42-5) advanced to the finals for the sixth consecutive year. Runners-up four straight years, the Wolfpack will face No. 9 Sumner-Fredericksburg (32-3) for the championship at 4:45 p.m. Friday.

Sumner-Fredericksburg ousted four-time defending champion Dike-New Hartford in a five-set thriller.

West Branch closed at 36-6. The Bears didn't pull a stunner, but they proved they deserved to be on the same court as the mighty Wolfpack, which was making its 15th straight semifinal appearance.

'We knew this could be our last match together, so what was there to save anything for?” said Haley Poula, one of 12 seniors on the roster and one of five senior starters.

The Bears were close enough for it to hurt.

'We just got stuck in one of our weaker rotations as far as serve-receive is concerned,” said Bears Coach Josh Lukavsky. 'I don't think too many people expected this much out of us ... except us.”

West Branch led the fourth set, 22-18, and still held a 23-21 edge before Kaira Moss took over.

The senior middle hitter slammed four straight kllls to save the Wolfpack from what could have been a tense finish.

'We definitely didn't want to go five,” said sophomore Ashtyn Veerbeek, Tammi's daughter.

Moss led all attackers with 17 kills. But the Bears finished with a 51-50 kill advantage.

Poula had 16, Abby Knoop 14, Bailey Lukavsky 11. Trystin Luneckas dished out 41 assists.

'We just had to start playing our game,” Bailey Lukavsky said. 'We got into a rhythm and started doing our thing.”

Western Christian had been 25-0 in sets against 2A competition, but the Bears got one, and almost got another.

'We ARE a good team,” Poula said. 'When we're having fun and enjoying the game is when we're at our best.”

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