North Scott takes care of business in Class 4A state volleyball quarterfinals

CORALVILLE — There are usually no easy wins at the state volleyball tournament.

And it’s probably not true to say North Scott’s Class 4A quarterfinal win Monday afternoon at Xtream Arena was easy. It’s just that the second-ranked Lancers looked so darned good in a three-set sweep of No. 11 Bondurant-Farrar: 25-15, 25-21 and 25-10.

“I thought this was one of our best games this season,” said North Scott sophomore outside hitter Abbey Hayes. “It’s the end of the season, and we know if we lose, it’s over. Our goal from the beginning was to be state champions. That’s just been in the back of our heads the whole time. Now it’s here, so I just feel like we’re all just clicking right now.”

Despite her youth, Hayes is one of the better hitters in the 4A field. She had a team-high 11 kills.

But this was a complete team effort. One telling statistic in this match was North Scott’s 16 aces: three each by Hayes and Nora Ralfs, two apiece from Sydney Skarich and Ella Kuesel, one by Georgia Brunkan and five from Emma Schermerhorn.

“We’ve been working in practice since our regional final win last week. We were ready to get out here and play like we did today,” Schermerhorn said. “We didn’t play super clean volleyball in the first two sets. They kind of stayed close with us. In the last set, we really took care of business.”

“I feel like if we’re playing how we’re capable, it’s definitely very hard to beat us,” said North Scott Coach Taryn VanEarwage. “So that’s something we kind of put into their heads: ‘You’ve got to go out there with confidence and believe that you’re meant to be here.’ And I feel like every person did that today.”

North Scott (33-5) played a 5A-heavy schedule in the Mississippi Athletic Conference. It took 5A semifinalist Pleasant Valley to five games in early October.

The Lancers play their 4A semifinal Wednesday at noon against No. 8 Clear Creek Amana (33-10). Bondurant-Farrar ended its season 24-11.

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