Sophia Austen’s 32 kills help Iowa City West reclaim the Spike in 5 sets

IOWA CITY — Most likely, Sophia Austen will play in two more Battles for the Spike.

Quite unlikely, she will top the memory from this one.

“Five sets, 85 degrees in the gym ... I definitely won’t ever forget this,” she said.

Don’t forget Austen’s 32 kills. Or the 2 hours, 15 minutes it took to determine a victor.

Iowa City West outlasted Class 5A 10th-ranked Iowa City High in Thursday’s Mississippi Valley Conference interdivisional marathon (21-25, 25-17, 25-21, 24-26, 15-9) at West High School.

“We let that fourth set get away,” said Austen, a sophomore. “But this group is crazy strong, always there for each other.”

West (10-10) surrendered a 23-18 advantage in Game 4 and faced early deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 in the finale. But Austen had two kills in a five-point run that gave the Trojans a 7-3 lead, and the advantage was never less than three points again.

“We kept it going,” West setter Lila Eastvold said. “Even though we lost that set, it was still 2-2. We had the mentality that it was 0-0 and kept playing our game and didn’t worry about our opponent.”

More than half of Eastvold’s 61 assists went in the direction of Austen.

“They couldn’t defend her,” Eastvold said. “She’s really fun to (set to).”

City (14-9) beat its archrival twice last year, including a Spike sweep. But this one belonged to the youthful Trojans.

Like the 6-foot-1 Austen, Eastvold is a sophomore. Audrey Small, who stands 6-foot-3, is a freshman.

They all handled the moment like veterans.

Twenty-three of Austen’s 32 kills came in the final three sets, including 10 in the third.

West appeared to be poised to close it out in the fourth set, but a clutch, aggressive service string by City’s Lila Howe got the Little Hawks (14-9) even at 23.

Austen’s kill got the Trojans to match point at 24-23, but City scored the last three, two on kills from Hattie Galloway, to extend the match.

Ava Bruxvoort added 16 kills for West, Small posted 11 and the Trojans amassed a 66-43 kills advantage.

Recommended Reading

Photos: Iowa City West at Iowa City High volleyball

Galloway led City in aces (three), kills (15) and blocks (five). Emmy McComas collected 12 kills, Kaitlin Loria 11.

Hazel Schluckebier dished out 40 assists for the Little Hawks.

The loss does not count against City in the MVC standings, and the Little Hawks still have much to play for Tuesday.

Co-leader of the Valley Division lead (with Cedar Falls and Dubuque Wahlert), City can earn at least a share of the title with a win Tuesday at home against Cedar Rapids Prairie.

Iowa City West 3, Iowa City High 2

(21-25, 25-17, 25-21, 24-26, 15-9)

At Iowa City West

Serving: City 91-98 (.929), West 91-108 (.843)

Aces: City 6 (Hattie Galloway 3), West 11 (Elle Barnett 3)

Kills: City 43 (Galloway 15), West 66 (Sophia Austen 32)

Assists: City 43 (Hazel Schluckebier 40), West 65 (Lila Eastvold 61)

Blocks: City 8 (Galloway 5), West 6 (Austen 2)

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com