Photo Courtesy of Mid-Prairie Volleyball Social Media

The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk volleyball team saw the curtain close on the 2021 season Thursday night in West Liberty, dropping their class 3A regional semifinal match to the No. 4 ranked Comets in straight sets. West Liberty got the win by scores of 25-14, 25-9 and 25-12. Mid-Prairie was led in the match by Dakota Mitchell’s 26 digs, Landry Pacha’s 13 assists and four kills from Maya Nonnenmann. After the match, Mid-Prairie head coach Sherry Evans talked about this meeting with the Comets and her message to the team after the match. “It just wasn’t our night tonight. Overall, I’m proud of all of the girls. Our senior leadership tonight and all year was great, and they worked hard. They led with heart and became vocal leaders. It’s always great to have a winning record and that’s something the program hasn’t done in a while but I also told the girls after the match that I focus on the little wins along the way too. Things have come a long way for Mid-Prairie in the last few years, building the program. The way our team plays together, the way they’ve improved, confidence in each other and the overall atmosphere of team this year. They have been amazing.”

With the loss, the Golden Hawks end the season with a 16-14 overall record, their first season with an overall winning mark since the team went 11-8 in 2008. The Hawks notched their first playoff win since 2014 when they beat Tipton on Monday, and had their longest conference winning streak during the course of this year in the last 15 seasons. West Liberty is now 36-4 on the year and will play Tuesday in the regional final against No. 10 West Burlington for the right to advance to state in Cedar Rapids. The Hawks say goodbye to four seniors, Cana Rediger, Maddie Nonnenmann, Ainsley Miller and Alyssa McDowell.