Iowa City High conquers West, moves to 5A regional volleyball final

IOWA CITY — If Iowa City West had an advantage, it was its blocking game.

'They have tall blockers, and if they were able to read where we were going, it gave us trouble,' said Iowa City High's Kelsey Law. 'When we moved the sets around, we got more one-on-one opportunities and we were able to get it past them.'

Law smoked nine of her match-high 19 kills in the first set, and 14th-ranked City High swept West, 25-10, 25-20, 25-22, in a Class 5A regional-semifinal volleyball match Tuesday night at City High.

The Little Hawks (17-14) were playing their first match since the Mississippi Valley Conference tournament 10 days earlier, and they were plenty sharp.

'When you're off for that long, you really don't know what to expect. One of our goals tonight was to come out strong,' City Coach Tricia Carty said. 'I was really pleased with our start.'

City High scored the first five points of the match, three on aces by Mia Loughran. The Little Hawks finished with 12 aces.

'That's always one of our keys, to serve tough to the person we want,' Carty said.

The Little Hawks advance to face No. 6 West Des Moines Dowling (31-11) in a regional final Monday at Dowling. The winner advances to the state tournament Nov. 12-15 at the U.S. Cellular Center, Cedar Rapids.

West (6-29) concluded the season with 18 consecutive losses. The Women of Troy did not lead through the first two sets. They did open an 11-7 lead in Game 3, but City got even at 12-12, then — at 16-16 — scored the next two points and ultimately pulled away.

'It always feels good to beat West, but more importantly, we're one (match) closer to state,' Law said.

Alia Vanderhoef added 10 kills as City posted a 41-17 advantage in that department. Joslyn Becker and Cecilia Aldrich-Ingram had five apiece. Lindsey Bolton collected 33 assists.

That was all more than enough to offset West's 9-1 blocking advantage.

IOWA CITY HIGH 3, IOWA CITY WEST 0 (25-10, 25-20, 25-22)

Class 5A Regional Semifinal, at City High

Serving — West 47-53 (.887), City 68-74 (.919).

Aces — West 2 (Ryann Culver 2), City 12 (Mia Loughran 4).

Kills — West 17 (Natalie Young 5), City 41 (Kelsey Law 19).

Assists — West 13 (Emma Dunlap 10), City 38 (Lindsey Bolton 33).

Blocks — West 9 (Olumayoua Dokun 3), City 1 (Joslyn Becker).

Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com