West Liberty sweeps Mount Vernon behind Macy Daufeldt’s 3A state tournament record 33 kills

CEDAR RAPIDS — West Liberty Coach Ruben Galvan's demeanor never changes much on the sidelines, no matter the score.

His players were the same on the floor.

Galvan's Comets saved their best play for the end of each set, closing strong in each to down Mount Vernon, 28-26, 26-24, 25-21, in a Class 3A state quarterfinal match on Tuesday afternoon at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse.

Now 39-4, the Comets will face No. 1 Davenport Assumption in the semifinals on Wednesday at 2 p.m. Coach Maggie Willems' Mount Vernon team closes its season at 34-14.

West Liberty fought off a pair of set points in the second and rallied from a 16-10 deficit in the third to secure the sweep.

“That's been the way we've been all season,” Galvan said. “I give a lot of credit to the seniors. They have been really good leaders throughout the year and the younger kids believe in them.”

» Photo gallery: West Liberty vs. Mount Vernon in state volleyball tournament

And the Comets have one other trait that showed on Tuesday.

“They are competitors,” Galvan said. “It is something that we have seen in them all season. We have freshmen (starters Sophie Buysse and Ava Morrison) we put in that situation and they come through in big situations.”

The freshmen may have come through, but the leader for the Comets was senior Macy Daufeldt. She was the closer in each game for West Liberty and finished with a 3A state tournament record 33 kills, breaking the mark of 32 set by MOC-Floyd Valley's Alexis Conaway in 2012.

“Every time I get a kill, I look forward to turning around and celebrating with my teammates,” she said. “I didn't even know (the kills record) happened until after the game when my teammates told me to turn around and look at the scoreboard. To be honest, it didn't really seem like I had that many. It just felt like we all worked together to get points.”

Daufeldt said the Comets have been resilient all year.

“One of the biggest things for us this year was to never give up,” she said. “I don't know, I guess we just stayed relaxed because being down a few points in no big deal to us.”

Mount Vernon had stretches of strong play, but could not close out a set.

“In sets two and three we had some nice momentum,” Willems said. “We didn't take care of business and close the job.

“At the end of the day every point is about execution. When we lost in the last two sets, it was about decision-making. When the momentum shifted it was always about the serving and passing game. They were better than us in those phases when the momentum changed.”

Chloe Meester led the Mustangs with 14 kills. Kameron Brand had 18 digs.