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VBC takes over WACO tourney
Undefeated night leads Van Buren County to tournament title
WAYLAND — Four Union area volleyball teams braved the conditions at the 2023 WACO Classic on Monday night, and in the end, one stood tall above the entire field.
The Van Buren County Warriors reigned supreme over seven other Southeast Iowa teams, beating out Union area teams WACO, Columbus and Pekin as well as Centerville, Sigourney, Notre Dame and Louisa-Muscatine.
Van Buren County entered pool play with some familiar foes, opening up with Pekin and WACO and finishing up with Centerville. By the end of a grueling three hours of play, the Warriors were 3-0.
“I feel really good about it, because we've never beaten Notre Dame,” said junior libero Tessa Sayer. “Plus, it's really hot in the gym, and we just fought through. “”
VBC started the night in the secondary gym, which reached the highest temperatures of the night, but they still had enough to fend off Pekin 21-16, 21-14.
The Warriors of VBC then defended their namesake against the Warriors of WACO in one of the best pool play games of the night. WACO took Set 1 21-15, but Van Buren County fought back to win Set 2, 21-12, and then had to fight tooth and nail to earn a 16-14 victory in Game 3.
Van Buren County’s final pool play game was against then unbeaten Centerville. The Warriors won 21-14, 21-16 to advance to the championship game.
In the title match, the Warriors face off against Southeast Iowa Super Conference South Division rivals Notre Dame.
The Nikes took the first set 26-24, but Van Buren County never wavered. The Warriors won Set 2, 25-21, and broke a late tie to pull away 15-12 in the decider.
“It feels so good, especially beating teams like Notre Dame and WACO, who we've lost to the last three years,” said senior hitter Ivy Davidson. “It just feels really good.”
The Warriors were playing under interim coach Matt Zeitler, who led the 2019 team to the state tournament, as well as Assistant Coach Selena Sayer, who played on that team. Usual head coach B.J. Carter will be out this year as she is expecting a child.
Zeitler was complimentary of his squad, especially Sayer, who he says played a near perfect game on defense.
“There weren't very many times where Tessa made mistakes tonight,” Zeitler said. “She's pretty tough.”
Zeitler also talked about taking over for the year, and how ready he is to take VBC far.
“I didn’t get off a tractor at 1:30 p.m. to come over here and lose,” Zeitler said. “I’m here to win.”
Along with the tough loss to VBC, WACO also suffered a three-set heartbreaker against Centerville in the night’s opener. After winning the first set 21-14, WACO fell 21-13 and 15-12 in the next two sets.
The Warriors in blue did finish the night off 1-2 after a 21-17, 21-17 defeat of Pekin. Marie Farmer had 10 kills on the night, and Emma Wagler finished with nine.
Columbus finished 1-2 as well. The Wildcats beat Louisa-Muscatine 21-7, 21-14 to start the day off. Fell 21-18, 21-15 against Sigourney, and then lost to WACO.
Pekin finished the night 0-3. Along with losses to WACO and VBC, the Panthers fell 23-21 and 21-6 against Centerville. Kayse Miller had 12 kills on the night and Myah Bainbridge racked up 24 assists.
