West steals a game, but can’t hold off top-ranked Bulldogs

CEDAR RAPIDS – Bettendorf saw a remarkable streak come to an end, but had more than enough to get past a valiant bunch from Iowa City West and advance in the Class 5A volleyball state tournament.

The top-ranked Bulldogs dropped a game for the first time since Sept. 13, but overwhelmed the Women of Troy in games three and four to win, 25-21, 15-25, 25-16, 25-18, Tuesday morning at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'I was pleased that we came out with the win,” Bettendorf Coach Diane Lechtenberg said. 'I thought our blocks started getting a little bit stronger as the match went on, and I thought that was really important to help our defense out.”

Bettendorf plays Johnston (38-6) in Thursday's 5A semifinal at 10 a.m.

The teams exchanged points throughout Game 1, with Bettendorf finally gaining some distance with six of seven points for a 17-11 lead. West got as close as two on a couple of occasions before succumbing 25-21 in the first game. In Game 2, West (28-12) jumped out to a 6-0 start and closed the game with eight-straight points to snap Bettendorf's 61-game winning streak, 25-15, dating back to Sept. 13 against Quincy (Ill.).

'They did an outstanding job of blocking us,” Lechtenberg said. 'We just had to adjust our defense because they certainly do their homework and found some of our weaknesses.”

Bettendorf (37-0), the two-time defending state champion, showed its mettle in Games 3 and 4. Junior Josie Herbst tallied two of her match-high 16 kills during a 7-2 surge to put the Bulldogs up, 13-7 in Game 3.

'We knew that we had to just push to the end,” said Herbst, a UNLV commit. 'We wanted to win.”

Bettendorf won Game 3, 25-16. Tied 6-6 in game four, Bettendorf junior and Rutgers commit Megan Sharkey sparked a 12-5 run with a pair of aces on an effective spin serve she terms 'the dying quail,” which plummets to the court in a spinning motion that was difficult for West to gauge and catch up to.

'I learned it freshman year, right before state,” Sharkey said. 'It really made a big impact last year at state, so I thought I'd bring it back.”

West clawed back to within 24-18 behind senior Laynie Whitehead before dropping the clincher, 25-18. Whitehead finished with 14 kills, while Maddie Fay added 37 assists for West (28-12). It was West's first trip to state since winning the 4A state title in 2011.

'We knew what we were up against,” first-year West Coach Randy Dolson said. 'We knew we had to play, I don't want to say almost a perfect game, but we did.”