West Delaware aims for another state volleyball appearance

MANCHESTER - The West Delaware volleyball team knew it had big shoes to fill coming into the season.

And fill them, they have.

After qualifying for state the past four years and losing eight seniors, the players knew they had to improve daily in order to bring home a state banner once again.

The Hawks showed their skill earlier this month, defeating Dyersville Beckman, 25-23, 24-26, 25-22, 25-20, in their last Wamac Conference game. The Hawks, with a record of 40-4, clinched the Wamac East title for the fourth year in a row.

'To be able to stay on top of such a competitive conference for four straight seasons is quite an accomplishment,” Coach Brett Mather said.

At the Westside Tournament Oct. 8 in Cedar Rapids, the Hawks took second. Linn-Mar beat West Delaware, 2-0, but the Hawks battled all day to end up second. In pool play, the Hawks took down Grundy Center, Mount Vernon, Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Dubuque Hempstead.

'At times we competed at a very high level,” Mather said. 'The tough competition was extremely beneficial.”

At Wamac tournament pool play in DeWitt, the Hawks went 3-0, defeating Maquoketa, South Tama and Benton Community.

Wamac bracket play took place on Oct. 13 in Mount Vernon. The Hawks faced tough matches, beating Western Dubuque, 26-24, 24-26, 15-13, in their first match. In the semifinals, the Hawks played Independence for the third time this year and won 18-25, 25-19, 15-8.

The Hawks fell short in the championship game to a tough Marion team, losing the first game 25-20. The Hawks won the second game 25-23 and lost the third game 15-9.

'I think we battled ourselves as much as we did our opponents,” Mather said.

The Hawks opened postseason play with a 3-0 win over Oelwein. They face North Fayette Valley on Tuesday in Manchester at 7 p.m.

'We need to continue to practice at a high level,” Mather said before the Oelwein win. 'We also need to maintain our focus of improving daily.”