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Mid-Prairie’s historic season ends in state quarterfinals
No. 8 Golden Hawks swept by top-ranked Mount Vernon in Class 3A first round
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
CORALVILLE — No. 8 Mid-Prairie gave top seeded Mount Vernon everything they could in Tuesday’s Class 3A state volleyball quarterfinal matchup.
In what was a battle between one of the best offensive teams in the state and one of the top defensive, offense held just an edge.
Mount Vernon came in to the tournament with the top kills and assists numbers across the state.
Mid-Prairie (33-9) entered as the 3A leader in digs and showed why once again.
However, the reining state runners up Mustangs (43-4) hitting prowess was the difference in the end as the Golden Hawks fell 25-22, 25-16 and 25-16 inside Xtream Arena.
Mid-Praire, who put together another record breaking season with total wins, showed they were not going to back down.
The Golden Hawks let that be know early, jumping out to a 3-1 lead on a kill from Katelyn Harland, a miss hit from the Mustangs and an acrobatic diving dig from Dakota Mitchell that led to another Mid-Prairie point.
A pair of errors by the Golden Hawks tied it up before Harper Pacha sent one to the floor to give Mid-Prairie a one point advantage.
Mount Vernon got going after that.
The Mustangs rattled off four straight points to take a 7-4 advantage. They would never give it up, but the Golden Hawks continued to battle.
“We knew they had big hitters,” Jovi Evans said. “We knew who we needed to key on, and we knew we'd have to mix things up a little bit. Our team did an amazing job of digging the living crap out of them.”
Jovi Evans hammered home a kill for Mid-Prairie to make it a two point game at 17-15, but a kill from Chloe Meester started a 3-0 swing by Mount Vernon to tie its largest lead of the set, 20-15.
However, the Golden Hawks said, ‘We’re not done yet.’
Back-to-back kills from Evans and a kill from Harland followed by a hitting error from the Mustangs cut the lead to one at 20-19.
The Golden Hawks just couldn’t break the Mustangs’ lead.
Mount Vernon created a three point cushion once again before Evans drilled another pair of kills to pull it back within one, 22-21, but that’s as close as they would come.
Set two shaked out similar to the first.
Kills from Evans and Callie Huber had the Golden Hawks leading 3-1 and 5-4 early on, but the Mustang offense found its stride once again.
After a pair of kills each from Sydney Maue and Sophia Meester accompanied by an ace from Maue put the Mustangs up 8-6, they would never let the Golden Hawks back into it.
In all a 5-0 run led to a 10-6 lead for Mount Vernon; however, Mid-Prairie once again remained resilient.
Following a Golden Hawk timeout a Huber kill and ace started and ended a three point swing by Mid-Prairie to bring it back within one.
Mount Vernon scored the next three points, followed by a Pacha kill for Mid-Prairie, but that’s as close as the Golden Hawks came in set two as the Mustangs closed 12-6.
Needing a set three win to stay alive, Mid-Prairie, who had leads early on in all three sets, put together its most efficient volleyball in the third.
Mount Vernon’s Chloe Meester had the Mustangs up 2-1 after a pair of kills, but the Golden Hawks were dominant over the next seven serves.
Mid-Prairie turned it up a notch offensively and defensively with back-to-back blocks giving the Golden Hawks a 5-2 advantage.
An pair of errors by the Mustangs along with a kill from Huber gave Mid-Prairie its largest lead of the match 8-2.
“We showed that we could hang with them,” Evans said. “It’s just a matter of maintaining that the whole entire set. When we really scrapped it out and locked in playing our game we were ahead and playing really good.”
Mount Vernon continued to hang around.
At 10-5, things began to shift to in the Mustangs’ favor.
The top ranked squad rattled off eight straight points to give them control of the set at 13-10.
A block by Brylee Gearhart ended the run, but the Golden Hawks couldn’t get back on top.
Mid-Prairie scored just five more points the rest of the way as a 6-0 run helped Mount Vernon put the frame out of reach.
“The loss sucks, but we definitely worked really hard to get here,” Mid-Prairie’s Katelyn Harland said. “I’m really proud of what we have done we’re really going to miss our seniors. They really have put in a lot of work this season. We put in a lot of effort.”
Jovi Evans finished the quarterfinal bout with a stellar 13 kills, 11 assists and 16 digs.
Jeorgia Evans ended with 18 digs and Dakota Mitchell had 12.
Avery Helmuth finished with 14 assists. Katelyn Harland ended with seven kills.
Callie Huber and Harper Pacha each had three blocks.
The Golden Hawks end the season with a 33-9 overall record. A new school record. The trip to state is their first since 2004. Mid-Prairie also won the teams first outright River Valley Conference South Championship in 20 years. It’s the first time they’ve ever won back-to-back conference championships as well.
“Being the first team to go to state in 20 years is really crazy,” Harland said. “We’ve been so close the past couple years so that feeling is just amazing knowing that we finally did it.”
Mid-Prairie volleyball says goodbye to seven seniors in Kenzington Miller, Lanee Duwa, Brylee Gearhart, Dakota Mitchell, Lilly Miller, Kyla Karnes and Callie Huber.
“We’re so proud of these girls,” Mid-Prairie head coach Sherry Evans said. “Just the amount of time and effort they have put in all year-round. They never gave up and believed. They truly came out so confident and ready to play.”
“I’m proud of the girls for what it is, but this volleyball match doesn’t mean anything, but what we hope is that they take something about life,” Mid-Prairie head coach Zeb Evans said. “If 10 years down the road and they don’t have anything to grab back on beside that game right there then Sherry and I have failed as coaches. We know we haven’t because we stress that every single day. It’s all about life and how we can use those lessens in this game of volleyball to propel us in life.”
