Sergeant Bluff-Luton shocks No. 1 Xavier in a 4A state volleyball quarterfinal marathon

CORALVILLE — That one will sting for a while.

“Really hard,” Cedar Rapids Xavier Coach Amy Weiland said. “It’s going to sit in my mind a long time.”

No. 12 Sergeant Bluff-Luton brought a big block from Northwest Iowa and stunned the top-ranked Saints in a five-set Class 4A quarterfinal at the state volleyball tournament Monday afternoon at Xtream Arena.

Set scores were 25-18, 25-18, 21-25, 18-25 and 15-13.

“We push a level of discipline, and we have to be disciplined because I’m the tallest one on our team,” SBL Coach Renee Winkel said.

“Once we got to a fifth set, I knew we wouldn’t crumble.”

SBL (22-13) won for the 11th time in its last 13 matches — “We peak late,” Winkel said — and advances to face No. 5 Pella (40-7) in the semifinal round at noon Wednesday.

The Warriors’ glory was Xavier’s misery. The Saints (28-5) bowed out in the quarterfinals for the second straight year.

“I didn’t expect such a big block from them,” Xavier all-stater Libby Fandel. “It wasn’t my best match hitting the ball. I don’t know. It just wasn’t there today.”

A University of Kansas basketball commit, Fandel led Xavier with 17 kills (and 24 digs), but sprayed 16 attack errors. Some of those were direct results from SBL blocks.

“We were really nervous,” Fandel said. “Go in as the No. 1 team, and you’ve got a target on your back. We were prepared, just not enough.”

The Warriors jolted Xavier with a 12-point run in the opening moments, and collected six blocks in the first set.

Xavier didn’t recover until midway through Game 3, when middles Macie Lupkes (13 kills) and Taylor Rexroth (10) carried the team.

The Saints rolled through Game 4, then had leads of 3-1, 5-3 and 6-4 in the finale.

A four-point run swung the momentum in the direction of the underdog Warriors, and they maintained a tenuous lead the rest of the way.

Five times down the stretch, the Saints got within a single point. And five times, Sergeant Bluff-Luton held them at bay.

Bre VanDenTop accounted for SBL’s final three points with kills.

“I’m so excited,” VanDenTop said. “We didn’t have a lot of returners from last year. By the end of the season, we really began to trust each other.”

Izzy Schaap led SBL with 16 kills.

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Photos: Xavier vs. Sergeant Bluff-Luton in Class 4A state volleyball quarterfinals

Xavier owned a 56-44 advantage in kills, but that was neutralized by 39 attack errors, compared to 25 for the Warriors.

“I had confidence that we were going to win,” Lupkes said. “But they were a really good team, and they found the holes (in our formation). We kept fighting ... this group is amazing.”

And that’s why this one will sting for a long time. Six Xavier seniors played their final match, and more was expected than this.

“I’m going to miss them a lot,” Weiland said. “They’ve been the heart of this program.”

Sergeant Bluff-Luton 3, Cedar Rapids Xavier 2

(25-18, 25-18, 21-25, 18-25, 15-13)

Class 4A State Quarterfinal, at Coralville

Serving: SBL 95-103 (.922), Xavier 96-100 (.960)

Aces: SBL 7 (Allison Meister 3), Xavier 8 (Libby Fandel 3)

Kills: SBL 44 (Izzy Schaap 16), Xavier 56 (Fandel 17)

Assists: SBL 42 (Bailey Ball 34), Xavier 53 (Josie Smith 52)

Blocks: SBL 11 (Madison Kvidera, Bre VanDenTop 2.5), Xavier 10 (Macie Lupkes 4)

Digs: SBL 75 (Kaitlyn Hardie 29), Xavier 94 (Fandel 24)

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com