Hawks repeat the feat vs. Lions

CEDAR RAPIDS — After nearly two hours and five grueling sets, the Prairie Hawks' work still wasn't done.

There were posters to sign. The waiting line snaked down a hallway abuzz with activity.

These days, there's suddenly a buzz building around this program.

Cedar Rapids Prairie rallied from a 10-5 deficit in the deciding set and toppled Class 5A sixth-ranked Linn-Mar for the second time in four days, 21-25, 25-17, 20-25, 25-19, 15-13, in a Mississippi Valley Conference cross-divisional match Tuesday night at Prairie High School.

'We regained our composure a little bit,' said Prairie Coach Lynnette Stecklein. 'We kept saying, we were going to play to win. They weren't going to beat us on our errors.'

Prairie (9-3) won its seventh straight match, and the Hawks very well might be in line for their first state ranking in about five years when the new list is released by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union on Thursday.

'Honestly, I like flying under the radar,' Stecklein said. 'But for the girls, do they deserve to be there? Yes, they do.'

When Sarah Renner served two straight aces, Linn-Mar (10-4) was five points ahead and five points from victory. But the Hawks stuck with it.

'In practice, we've been working a lot on pressure situations,' said Kate Busswitz, a UNI-bound junior who slammed the final point. 'We figured it out.'

Megan Sprengeler, who led all attackers with 17 kills, ignited the rally with a kill, then an ace in a four-point run. Then, at 11-9, the Hawks scored four more for a lead it would not surrender.

'It came down to composure,' said Linn-Mar Coach Teresa Kehe, who used only seven players all match. 'We're still just not accustomed to these situations.

'Prairie, they played some outstanding volleyball at times.'

After the postgame handshakes, the Hawks high-tailed it to the hallway west of the gym, Sharpies in hand, ready to greet the long line of well-wishers. Young volleyball players. Students. Parents.

Busswitz added 15 kills and five blocks for the winners.

'We just wanted to bring back the feeling we had Saturday (when the Hawks beat the Lions in the championship match of the Linn-Mar Invitational),' she said. 'We remembered what it took, and we brought it back to life.'

Mallory Jones distributed 26 assists.

For Linn-Mar, Meg Gostonczik led the attack with 14 kills. Ellie Anderson posted 13 kills and 23 assists; Renner had 12 and 23.

CEDAR RAPIDS PRAIRIE 3, LINN-MAR 2 (21-25, 25-17, 20-25, 25-19, 15-13)

At C.R. Prairie

Serving: Linn-Mar 87-97 (.897), Prairie 101-105 (.962); Aces: Linn-Mar 13 (Ellie Anderson 4), Prairie 10 (Kate Busswitz 3); Kills: Linn-Mar 58 (Meg Gostonczik 14), Prairie 54 (Megan Sprengeler 17); Assists: Linn-Mar 51 (Anderson, Sarah Renner 23), Prairie 50 (Mallory Jones 26); Blocks: Linn-Mar 9 (Carly Spies 4), Prairie 12 (Busswitz 5).

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com