Iowa City West, Iowa City Liberty reach the Westside Invitational semifinals

CEDAR RAPIDS — No disputing this: Iowa City West has a good volleyball team. Iowa City Liberty, too.

Maybe very good.

However ...

“We haven’t reached our peak yet,” West’s Taylor Otte said. “We have so much more potential.

“It’s a matter of believing. We can do this.”

West and Liberty both reached the semifinal round of the Westside Invitational tournament Saturday at Jefferson High School.

Both teams won their respective pools and went 4-1 throughout the day.

“There were a couple of mental hurdles that we had to get over, and we did,” Liberty Coach Jessica Hauptmann said. “In the Mount Vernon match (in the quarterfinals), we had to dig deep to move on.”

Each of the final four teams in the championship bracket reside in the Class 5A top 10.

Second-ranked Ankeny Centennial captured the title, 25-19, 25-15, over No. 4 Pleasant Valley.

No. 8 West (22-5) and No. 9 Liberty (21-8) have been two of the major success stories in the area this fall. The Trojans’ thrilling win over the Bolts on Tuesday forced a first-place tie for the MVC Mississippi Division title.

They’ll meet as part of Tuesday’s MVC championship pool at Cedar Falls, and they are more than likely to square off in a 5A regional final.

“We had a very good day,” West Coach Jaedynn Evans said. “Collectively, this was the most consistent we’ve played all season.

“We focused a lot on serve-receive. I kept telling the kids that they’re great serve receivers before every serve. I think they were laughing at me by the end of the day.”

West opened with a three-set win over Marion, then swept Cedar Rapids Jefferson and Dike-New Hartford to conclude pool action.

The Trojans topped West Delaware in the quarterfinal round, 25-21, 25-20, then bowed to Pleasant Valley in the semis, 25-23, 25-17.

“The biggest piece is to really get our block going,” Evans said. “We’ve got to fire that up if we want to be an amazing team.”

Liberty’s big moments of the day came midway through the tournament.

After getting past Bondurant-Farrar (in three sets) and Des Moines Roosevelt (in two), the Lightning upended 5A No. 3 West Des Moines Dowling to conclude pool play, 21-16, 17-21, 15-13.

The Bolts scored the final five points of their quarterfinal win over reigning 3A state champion Mount Vernon, 20-25, 25-20, 15-13.

Centennial was too much in the semifinals, 25-12, 25-20.

“Every opportunity to elevate our game ... when you get beat, you need to use it as a lesson,” Hauptmann said. “I think we’re on an upward progression, and I’m definitely pumped for us to take the next step, both physically and mentally.”

Liberty libero Edie Miller added: “Last year, we struggled to come back from deficits. We want to continue to be able to be aggressive with our swings and our serves.”

  Buy Photo

Mount Vernon (18-14) and West Delaware (28-10) were the only other area teams to reach the championship bracket.

Marion (24-12) won the consolation bracket.

Westside Invitational

At C.R. Jefferson

POOL A

Teams — 1. Ankeny Centennial 3-0, 2. West Delaware 2-1, 3. West Liberty 1-2, 4. C.R. Washington 0-3.

Ankeny Centennial def. C.R. Washington, 21-12, 21-10

Ankeny Centennial def. West Liberty, 21-7, 21-11

Ankeny Centennial def. West Delaware, 21-8, 21-18

West Delaware def. West Liberty, 15-21, 21-19, 16-14

West Delaware def. C.R. Washington, 21-9, 21-11

West Liberty def. C.R. Washington, 21-12, 21-13

POOL B

Teams — 1. Iowa City West 3-0, 2. Dike-New Hartford 2-1, 3. Marion 1-2, 4. C.R. Jefferson 0-3.

Dike-New Hartford def. C.R. Jefferson, 21-11, 21-10

Dike-New Hartford def. Marion, 21-10, 21-18

Iowa City West def. Marion, 15-21, 21-12, 21-15

Iowa City West def. C.R. Jefferson, 21-11, 21-11

Iowa City West def. Dike-New Hartford, 21-19, 22-20

Marion def. C.R. Jefferson, 21-13, 21-15

POOL C

Teams — 1. Pleasant Valley 3-0, 2. Mount Vernon 2-1, 3. Grundy Center 1-2, 4. Wapello 0-3.

Grundy Center def. Wapello, 21-16, 21-11

Mount Vernon def. Grundy Center, 16-21, 21-18, 15-8

Mount Vernon def. Wapello, 21-9, 21-16

Pleasant Valley def. Wapello, 21-15, 21-11

Pleasant Valley def. Mount Vernon, 21-13, 21-17

Pleasant Valley def. Grundy Center, 21-14, 21-19

POOL D

Teams — 1. Iowa City Liberty 3-0, 2. West Des Moines Dowling 2-1, 3. Des Moines Roosevelt 1-2, 4. Bondurant-Farrar 0-3.

Des Moines Roosevelt def. Bondurant-Farrar, 14-21, 23-21, 15-10

Dowling def. Des Moines Roosevelt, 21-16, 21-7

Dowling def. Bondurant-Farrar, 21-16, 16-21, 19-17

Iowa City Liberty def. Bondurant-Farrar, 17-21, 21-19, 15-5

Iowa City Liberty def. Des Moines Roosevelt, 21-9, 21-5

Iowa City Liberty def. Dowling, 21-16, 21-17, 15-13

CONSOLATION QUARTERFINALS

West Liberty def. C.R. Jefferson, 25-11, 25-16

Wapello def. Des Moines Roosevelt, 14-25, 25-12, 20-18

Grundy Center def. Bondurant-Farrar, 25-21, 25-15

Marion def. C.R. Washington, 25-9, 25-10

CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS

Wapello def. West Liberty, 25-21, 15-25, 18-16

Marion def. Grundy Center, 26-24, 25-18

CONSOLATION FINAL

Marion def. Wapello, 25-17, 25-16

QUARTERFINALS

Ankeny Centennial def. Dike-New Hartford, 27-25, 25-16

Iowa City Liberty def. Mount Vernon, 20-25, 25-20, 15-13

Pleasant Valley def. West Des Moines Dowling, 25-22, 25-11

Iowa City West def. West Delaware, 25-21, 25-20

SEMIFINALS

Ankeny Centennial def. Iowa City Liberty, 25-12, 25-20

Pleasant Valley def. Iowa City West, 25-23, 25-17

CHAMPIONSHIP

Ankeny Centennial def. Pleasant Valley, 25-19, 25-15

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com