Cedar Falls sweeps Dowling in state volleyball opener

CEDAR RAPIDS — Cedar Falls considers itself the team to beat and the Tigers' No. 1 seed validates the claim.

So does their play.

Cedar Falls had little challenge in the Class 5A state volleyball quarterfinals, disposing of West Des Moines Dowling, 25-12, 25-17, 25-17, Tuesday at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'There is a lot of pressure,' Cedar Falls' Grace Burken said. 'Coming in as No. 1, there is a big target on your back, but we knew if we played to our potential we should be able to beat this team.'

The Tigers (39-3) dominated the opening set, never trailing and building their first double-digit lead when Taylor Lynch's kill made it 19-9.

'It's so fun to be back here,' Cedar Falls junior Claire Gerdes said. 'There is so much energy and we really feed off that as a team.'

Dowling (27-16) answered in the second, opening with a 4-0 lead. The teams forced six ties until Burken kills put the Tigers up 16-14. Burken warmed up in the second set and finished with 11 total kills to lead the Tigers. Gerdes added nine and Tayah Mahi had a game-high 30 assists.

'I think I just needed to get one kill down, because in the first game I don't think I had any,' Burken said. 'I just kept swinging and I wasn't just connecting with the ball or Tayah and I weren't connecting as well as we should have.

'In the second game our passers kept it up. They did an amazing job and it just started working.'

The Tigers avoided any major lapses and were more consistent than some previous matches. Taylor Lynch had five kills and two aces for Cedar Falls.

'I think we played very well,' Burken said. 'A lot of times, we don't play well in three games straight, so that was a pretty big accomplishment.'

Cedar Falls never trailed in the third and final game, moving into the semifinals for the second straight year.

'It's awesome,' Gerdes said. 'It's a great experience. We really gel as a team during this time. I really think we can play better. We haven't reached our ceiling yet.'

Sally Gaul led the Maroons with nine kills. Dowling's Susie Gaul had 23 assists.

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