Cedar Rapids Prairie volleyball serving up wins with rebuilt roster

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Cedar Rapids Prairie volleyball team took a few early-season lumps.

With just one returning varsity player from last season, the Hawks dropped seven of their first nine matches and were taught some difficult early lessons from a host of experienced, ranked foes.

They appear to have paid close attention.

'We have really worked on trying to be consistent in our play and bring that energy to the court that we've been talking about,” Coach Lynnette Stecklein said after Prairie won all five of its matches and claimed the team title at the Starcevich Invitational Tournament Saturday at Prairie High School. 'Those have kind of been three key things – communication, energy and consistency in what we do. We feel like that has been improved.”

Prairie (16-9, 4-1 Mississippi Valley Conference) has now won 14 of 16 matches. After sweeping both games from Muscatine and Mediapolis, the Hawks were pushed to a winner-take-all third game by Benton Community, Cedar Rapids Washington and Clear Creek Amana in the final three rounds of the round-robin tournament format.

Each time, Prairie prevailed.

'I feel like we've gotten better at communication,” senior Jenna Wagemester said. 'Finding a way to connect. For a while, I feel like we weren't able to. We were too scared to talk. But now, we've kind of opened up which is giving us some success.”

Washington won four of five matches and placed second, while Clear Creek Amana was third at 3-2. Benton Community, Mediapolis and Muscatine each won once.

Wagemester - a University of South Dakota recruit and the aforementioned lone returner from last season - posted five kills in the 21-18, 20-22, 15-10 tournament finale over Clear Creek Amana.

After Wagemester, Prairie is receiving a number of valuable contributions from its first-year varsity players.

6-foot junior Rachael Kilpatrick - who entered the tournament third on the team in kills (71) and tops in serve efficiency (.987) - is someone Stecklein hopes to get the ball to more as the season winds down.

Against the Clippers, senior Halle Person and freshman Haley Ikeda each distributed eight assists, while sophomore Kylee Oldenburger collected a team-high seven kills and 13 digs.

'At the beginning of the year, it was a struggle because we were trying to figure out who is doing what in our positions,” Oldenburger said. 'But then, as the year has gone by we've been coming together more.”

Senior Lindsey Frazier matched Oldenburger with 13 digs.

The Hawks will get another crack at a ranked opponent when they host Class 5A No. 5 Linn-Mar (21-6, 3-2 MVC) on Tuesday.

'The big key for us is passing,” Stecklein said. 'If we can stay in-system offensively, I think we can play with anyone.”

MICHELLE STARCEVICH VOLLEYBALL INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT

At C.R. Prairie

Teams -

1. Cedar Rapids Prairie, 5-0; 2. Cedar Rapids Washington, 4-1; 3. Clear Creek Amana 3-2; 4. Benton Community, 1-4; 4. Mediapolis, 1-4; 5. Muscatine, 1-4.

First round

C.R. Prairie def. Muscatine, 21-11, 21-11

Benton Community def. Mediapolis, 19-21, 21-17, 15-7

C.R. Washington def. Clear Creek Amana, 21-14, 21-12

Second round

C.R. Prairie def. Mediapolis, 21-8, 21-17

Clear Creek Amana def. Benton Community, 21-14, 18-21, 15-7

C.R. Washington def. Muscatine, 21-13, 21-11

Third round

C.R. Prairie def. Benton Community, 21-11, 16-21, 15-10

C.R. Washington def. Mediapolis, 21-10, 21-8

Clear Creek Amana def. Muscatine, 21-13, 21-10

Fourth round

C.R. Prairie def. C.R. Washington, 18-21, 23-21, 15-13

Muscatine def. Benton Community, 15-21, 21-18, 15-8

Clear Creek Amana def. Mediapolis, 21-17, 21-19

Fifth round

C.R. Prairie def. Clear Creek Amana, 21-18, 20-22, 15-10

Mediapolis def. Muscatine, 20-22, 21-14, 15-8

C.R. Washington def. Benton Community, 23-21, 21-15

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com