Saint Ansgar has ‘finally reached the step at the end’

CORALVILLE — All season long, Saint Ansgar volleyball coach Stephanie Beaver has insisted on a one-step-at-a-time approach.

“Now,” she said, “we’ve finally reached the step at the end.”

The top-ranked Saints has advanced to their state volleyball final, courtesy of Wednesday’s Class 1A semifinal sweep of No. 5 Dunkerton (25-13, 25-19, 25-22) at Xtream Arena.

The Saints (30-4) scored the final three points to shake loose from a 22-22 draw in the final set, two of them from back-row kills by Ava Falk.

“We hadn’t done many of those in the last set, and we knew they wouldn’t be ready for it,” Falk said. “I did my best to place it where I needed.”

Saint Ansgar won its 21st consecutive match and will face No. 2 Janesville (33-11) for the title at 7 p.m. Thursday.

The Saints beat Janesville, 2-1, Sept. 25 as part of the Janesville tournament.

They prevailed Wednesday thanks to a fast, efficient start. They hit .538 in the first set, and Falk and Lindsay Kruse never cooled.

Both finished with 17 kills. Falk had just two attack errors, Kruse one.

“We’ve shown a lot of resilience,” Kruse said. “We don’t like to lose. We’ll just fight back and do whatever it takes to win.”

Sophia Parrott posted 39 assists and 14 digs.

A first-time state qualifier, Dunkerton finished 30-12. Taylor Kipp led the Raiders with 11 kills.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com