Harlan rallies behind Schaben, repeats

CEDAR RAPIDS - This time, it was the winner that failed to maintain control of her emotions.

'It's really hard,” said Harlan's Jess Schaben. 'I just got done playing with my best friends. It was really fun.”

And really successful.

Schaben struck for 33 kills and earned all-tournament captain honors as top-ranked Harlan repeated as the Class 4A state volleyball champion. The Cyclones spotted No. 2 West Delaware the first set, the stormed back for a four-set victory, 16-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-10, Friday afternoon at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'I couldn't ask for a better way to end it,” Schaben said amid the celebratory sniffles.

Harlan (41-2) was in a bit of a bind, dropping the first set and falling behind, 8-2, in the second.

'I think we surprised them,” said West Delaware libero Emily Thole. 'They were looking at each other like, ‘What do we do?'”

They eventually responded like champions.

'We weren't used to their style. We haven't seen a tempo like that in a long time,” said Schaben, who will play next year at Iowa State. 'The first set, we were a little hesitant. But we turned it around.”

West Delaware (45-3) still led Game 2, 14-10, but a 9-1 Harlan run shifted the momentum, and it didn't shift back.

'I thought Harlan got stronger as the match went along,” said Hawks Coach Brett Mather, whose team earned its fifth runner-up trophy (the Hawks were second in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2010). 'Our tempo gave them trouble early on, but they came on and had some good runs.”

West Delaware senior Haley Morrison said, 'That second game, they got on a roll and it was like, ‘Oh, geez, here they come.'”

And they kept coming.

The third set was close most of the way, but a four-point run gave the Cyclones breathing room at 22-17. Game 4 was never close.

Schaben was joined on the all-tournament team by Harlan's Kenzie Swanson and Taylor Frederick, West Delaware's Thole and Carlee Ketchum, Marion's Isabella Sade and Clear Creek Amana's Natalie Brimeyer.

West Delaware scored the first nine points of the match and led 12-1 before the Cyclones caught their breath.

'They stung us early, and they stung us hard,” said Harlan Coach Angie Spangenberg. 'But this is a very tight team and they really wanted to get it done again.”

Schaben's 33 kills were more than half of Harlan's total. Frederick added 10, and Swanson posted 48 assists.

Ketchum notched 12 kills and 32 assists for the Hawks. Bridget Hoffmann added 12 kills, Kristen Wegmann nine.

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