Sweep of North Cedar sends Wapsie Valley to state

CENTER POINT – North Cedar was two points away from tying the Class 2A volleyball regional final at a game apiece.

That's when Wapsie Valley Coach Amber Boevers huddled up her team in a timeout for another breathing lesson.

'I always bring the girls in and we take two deep breaths,” Boevers said. 'One for me, and one for them. I brought them in and just said, ‘You guys have to want this. You have to dig deep and you guys need to take control back.'”

After an exchange of points, the fifth-ranked Warriors responded by fighting off a 24-22 game point with six of eight points on their way to a 25-20, 28-26, 25-12 sweep of No. 14 North Cedar Wednesday night at Center Point-Urbana High School.

'We play the top-ranked teams in the state of Iowa all season from day one,” Boevers said. 'Being able to have that competition and the few scrimmages beforehand really helped us get that 3-0 sweep tonight.”

The Class 2A state quarterfinals begin Wednesday at the U.S. Cellular Center. Wapsie Valley (31-5) will face No. 4 West Branch (35-5) in their first trip to state since 2009. The Warriors won back-to-back 1A titles from 2006-07.

'We've been dreaming of this moment since we were in fifth or sixth grade,” senior Haley Weepie said.

Weepie – ninth in the state in kills entering the match – had three of her game-high 19 kills during that pivotal 6-2 burst in Game 2 for Wapsie Valley. The first tied the game at 24-24, the next two were tiebreakers.

'We knew this was our last season, this is our last chance,” said Weepie, an Upper Iowa commit. 'We just had to push through and get through it.”

At 27-26, senior Emily Martins blocked a North Cedar kill attempt at the net and sent the Warriors to Game 3 with the opportunity for the sweep. The third game was a Wapsie whitewash as Weepie continued to pepper the Knights with forceful kill attempts. The Warriors capped the sweep with a 17-5 closeout surge.

'We have so much heart on our team,” said senior Courtney Dinsdale, who led Wapsie Valley with 28 assists. 'It's just great when we come together and fight and get it done like we did.”

Wapsie Valley libero Hannah Risse tallied 20 digs. Senior Madison Hawtrey recorded a team-high eight kills for North Cedar, which ends its season at 30-11.

'When we started the summer, I didn't know if we were going to be able to make it to this game,” North Cedar Coach Traci Smith said. 'I'm really proud of them for getting here.”

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com