‘Clean’ sweep: North Scott races to a 4A state volleyball championship

CORALVILLE — Cleaner team won. In a landslide.

Fourth-ranked North Scott painted its second consecutive masterpiece and swept No. 2 Indianola (25-17, 25-16, 25-12) for the Class 4A state championship Thursday afternoon at Xtream Arena.

“We all wanted it so much,” all-tournament captain Abbey Hayes said after the Lancers (29-4) copped their second championship, their first since 1985.

“We all played out hearts out. We had the mentality that if they scored a point, it was no big deal.”

And that’s the thing. With the teams tied at 14-14 in Game 2, the Lancers kept Indianola (38-5) from scoring consecutive points for the rest of the match.

That’s not an easy feat. And yet, with North Scott in control of Game 3, the Lancers student body chanted, “THIS is EA-sy.”

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Photos: North Scott vs. Indianola in Class 4A state volleyball championship

North Scott won 15 of its last 16 matches. The only loss in that span came against No. 1 Clear Creek Amana, and the Lancers emphatically avenged that in the semifinals.

They were dynamite in Coralville.

“From Day 1, this was our goal,” libero Georgia Brunkan said. “And we did it.

“Losing that first set (in the quarterfinals to Adel ADM), that helped us. We needed that extra drive.”

Brunkan and Kaci Johnson joined Hayes on the all-tournament team. So did Aspen Nelsen and Tori Runyan of Indianola, Bliss Beck of Clear Creek Amana and Brooke Larsen of Lewis Central.

Hayes, a junior committed to Creighton, collected 17 kills, and was symbolic of the Lancers’ superior efficiency with one error.

North Scott had seven attack errors. Indianola committed 24.

In Game 3, the Lancers hit .714: 15 kills, no errors in 21 swings. They scored seven in a row for an 8-1 lead, and rolled the rest of the way.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com