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Live from the Iowa state volleyball tournament: Semifinal Thursday
Miss anything at the state volleyball tournament Thursday? Here's what went down as teams booked their spots in Friday's finals.
DeBerg leads Hudson to 1A final
Kylie DeBerg pounded 34 kills and No. 2 Hudson beat No. 3 Springville in the last semifinal of the night, 23-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-18.
Springville took the first set 25-23, but Hudson responded in a big way and will not get a shot at No. 1 Janesville on Friday.
Janesville back in 1A final
Top-ranked Janesville will play for its third straight state championship Friday.
The Wildcats swept No. 5 Fort Madison Holy Trinity, 25-17, 25-23, 25-13.
Columbus pulls another upset
Waterloo Columbus produced a bit of a surprise Wednesday when it knocked off No. 3 Sumner-Fredericksburg in four.
The Sailors went for an even bigger stunner Thursday.
No. 10 Columbus swept second-ranked Unity Christian to advance to the 2A title match.
The Sailors fought off two match points in the first and won 28-26 on Sydney Shannon's ace, then took the second and third sets 25-21.
Columbus beat No. 4 Lake Mills just to get to state.
Western back in final
In its 16th straight semifinal appearance, Western Christian gave itself an opportunity to defend its state title.
The top-ranked Wolfpack ousted Council Bluffs St. Albert 25-23, 25-15, 25-8 for a spot in the Class 2A final.
Of those 16 years, Western will have played for the title 15 times.
Union outlasts MV
Union avenged its last loss, but it certainly wasn't easy.
Mount Vernon took the first set from the top-ranked Knights, then nearly forced a fifth.
MV won 25-16 before Union evened it with a 25-20 win. Then the last two sets were extra-point thrillers, won 29-27 and 32-20 by the Knights.
D-NH sweeps
Dike-New Hartford handed Carroll Kuemper just its second loss of the season to book a spot in the 3A title game.
The Wolverines edged the Knights 25-22 and 25-23 in the first two sets, then survived extra points (29-27) for a sweep.
Dike-New Hartford heads to Class 3A finals tmrw with 3-0 win over Kuemper Catholic November 10, 2016
Dike-New Hartford heads to Class 3A finals tmrw with 3-0 win over Kuemper Catholic https://t.co/OhFDIsFDNh @jtlinder @gazettevisuals #iahsvb pic.twitter.com/XqLdmQPlH8
— Rebecca F. Miller (@rebeccafmiller)
Pella wins in five
Top-ranked Pella fell behind 1-0 and 2-1, but stormed back to beat No. 4 Sioux City Heelan in five.
The Dutch trailed 10-8 in the deciding set before taking seven of the last eight points for a 15-11 win and a spot in the Class 4A title match.
The Dutch responded to losses in the first (25-19) and third (25-20) sets with wins in set two (25-18) and four (25-14).
Wahlert sweeps
Mackenzie May had 27 kills and second-ranked Dubuque Wahlert swept No. 6 Cedar Rapids Xavier 25-20, 25-21, 25-15 to advance to the 4A title game.
Wahlert separated from an 18-all deadlock in set two, taking the next three points and going on to win 25-21.
Wahlert used a 9-1 run to go up 15-10 in a 25-20 win.
Centennial wins thriller
No. 2 Ankeny Centennial was pushed to the brink, but will get a chance to defend its two straight titles.
No. 3 West Des Moines Valley overcame a 2-0 deficit with two wins in extra points (27-25, 34-32) before the Jaguars took an extended set five.
It was 6-0 Centennial in the fifth before Valley rallied. The Jaguars clinched a 19-17 win on Sarah Mixdorf's kill.
Centennial showed its mettle in the first set with a 25-15 win.
The third-ranked Tigers put up more of a fight in set two, but a 14-12 lead evaporated as Centennial closed the set on a 13-1 run to win 25-15 and go up 2-0 in the match.
CF cruises
Top-ranked Cedar Falls started fast and never let up to clinch a spot in the Class 5A championship match by sweeping Ankeny.
The Tigers jumped out to an 8-0 lead against Ankeny before winning the first set, 25-11.
It was more of the same in the second as CF went up 15-4 before winning 25-16, then CF closed it out 25-18 in the third.
(Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
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