First state tourney for Indee

VINTON — Independence volleyball has officially reached new heights, and the climb continues.

Shelby Lehman led the Mustangs with 16 kills, and freshman Kaitlin Niedert added 13 kills and four blocks to clinch the school's first state tournament berth by defeating No. 15 Center Point-Urbana, 25-23, 25-23, 14-25, 25-22, in a Class 3A regional final Tuesday night.'

It's just thrilling, it's a long time coming for the Independence program,' Independence Coach Joe Schmitz said. 'We've done a lot of firsts this year, and this was one of the real big goals that was just way out there.'

Junior Alyssa Hawkins came up big for No. 10 Indee (35-8) with a game-high 40 assists, and her teammates displayed composure that belied their status as rookie state qualifiers. Apart from CPU's lone 11-point win in the third game, time and time again the Mustangs had an answer when the pressure was on and the margin slim.

'That's kind of been our history this year,' Schmitz said. 'We've been able to come up with big plays in big moments.'

Down 20-18 in the first game, Indee tallied seven of the final 10 points, highlighted by consecutive kills from sisters Karlie and Kaitlin Niedert to set up game point. Tight circumstances yielded similar results in game two, as after a Schmitz timeout trailing 23-22, the Mustangs scored the final three.

'We always had our goals set, we knew this in mind, we wanted to do this,' Kaitlin Niedert said.

The clinching back-and-forth final game was highlighted by a forceful kill from Lehman to give Indee the valuable two-point advantage at 24-22. The resulting CPU net ball jostled around before falling to the ground, and a raucous Indee celebration ensued.

'This is everything I go to practice for,' Lehman said.  'I can't wait to perform at state.'

Kennedy Salow led CPU with 16 kills, while Haley Weideman notched 32 assists.  CPU closed its season at 33-10.

"This was huge, it was mental, and they were ready," CPU Coach Cathy Husmann said of her squad.  "We fought hard in this match."

Independence opens Tuesday at 6 p.m. against MOC-Floyd Valley (32-6).