Prairie prevails over Linn-Mar in 5

MARION - They work through these scenarios regularly in practice.

'All the time,” said Cedar Rapids Prairie Coach Lynnette Stecklein. 'We say it's 0-0, first to 5, or down 18-21, or up 20-19. So when we get into a match and hit a situation in which we face must-have points, how are we going to execute?”

Tuesday, they executed like winners.

Two points away from defeat, the Class 5A 10th-ranked Hawks survived in the fourth set. Then they made the plays at crunch time in Game 5 and outlasted No. 7 Linn-Mar, 25-11, 20-25, 12-25, 25-23, 15-13, in a Mississippi Valley Conference cross-divisional volleyball match Tuesday night at Linn-Mar High School.

'We're a rally team,” said Prairie setter Kendra Gaskill. 'We're a tight-knit group. We expect to come back. We have that communication, and it's easy to pick each other up.”

Prairie (11-1) defeated the Lions (12-4) for the second time in four days. The Hawks prevailed in the finals of the Linn-Mar Invitational here on Saturday, then repeated the feat.

This time, it was more difficult.

'They're a good team, and we had to dig deep,” said Prairie's Kate Busswitz. 'How bad did we really want it? Was it worth it?”

The Hawks answered both questions at the end.

Linn-Mar owned all the momentum after the third set, and after Prairie built a 19-14 advantage in Game 4, the Lions had a chance to steal it at the end. Four straight points by Carly Spies highlighted a five-point run that put Linn-Mar up, 23-22.

But a service error tied it, Busswitz's kill put the Hawks ahead, and an attack error by the Lions knotted the match at two sets apiece.

Prairie rallied from an 8-4 deficit in Game 5. Busswitz was a buzzsaw in the game-changing run with a free-ball kill, a block and another kill in a four-point swing that erased a 10-7 deficit.

Kenzie Soeken had the Hawks' final two kills.

'Again, it was our inexperience of the situation,” said Linn-Mar Coach Teresa Kehe. 'We didn't stay aggressive, and Prairie came on strong. They don't get rattled easily, and sometimes we do.”

A future UNI Panther, Busswitz collected 16 kills and five blocks. Soeken added 11 kills, and Gaskill counted 37 assists.

Spies paced Linn-Mar with 13 kills. Amanda Ollinger added 12, Rehgan Schmidt 11. Ellie Anderson dished out 44 assists.

CEDAR RAPIDS PRAIRIE 3, LINN-MAR 2 (25-11, 20-15, 12-25, 25-23, 15-13)

At Linn-Mar

Serving: Prairie 92-97 (.948), Linn-Mar 88-97 (.907). Aces: Prairie 6 (Kendra Gaskill 3), Linn-Mar 8 (Amanda Ollinger 4). Kills: Prairie 43 (Kate Busswitz 16), Linn-Mar 61 (Carly Spies 13). Assists: Prairie 37 (Gaskill 37), Linn-Mar 57 (Ellie Anderson 44). Blocks: Prairie 12 (Busswitz, Madison Bell 5), Linn-Mar 5 (Spies 3).

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