Photo Courtesy of Mid-Prairie Volleyball Social Media
The No. 8 in Class 3A Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk volleyball team trounced the Tipton Tigers Thursday in a River Valley Conference match at Tim Grady Gymnasium in Wellman. The Hawks were winners in straight sets by scores of 25-15, 25-18 and 25-9. Mid-Prairie was led on the night by Jeorgia Evans 20 digs and 15 for Dakota Mitchell. Avery Helmuth’s 16 assists and 14 for Jovi Evans, to go with a dozen kills. Harper Pacha had nine kills. Mitchell had five aces, Callie Huber added two. Jeorgia Evans, Katelyn Harland and Huber each had one block. Along with the victory, the Golden Hawks celebrated three milestones on the night as Mitchell eclipsed 2,000 career digs, Jovi Evans 1,000 career digs and co-head coach Sherry Evans won her 100th match. All three spoke with KCII sports about the win and the accomplishments.
Jovi Evans said, “We kind of say that we have a ‘second set curse’. We were really trying to break that tonight. I think we did for the most part. Then we came back in the third set and really took care of business. We definitely played together really well tonight. We all did our job very well. if we’re going to go where we want to go, we’re going to have to start laying down the hammer every single time we step on the court. Seeing my whole team come out (to celebrate the accomplishment) just feels really cool!”
Mitchell continued, “I think in the third set we were just ‘we’re tired of this, let’s just go hammer them’. Our connections have definitely gotten better. We all played our part. We hustled everywhere. (The milestone) goes to show how hard we work. We both play in the offseason and put in a lot of hours in the gym. It’s great to get the recognition from the community and everyone.”
Sherry Evans added, “For those two girls, it’s about their hard work. The work they do in the offseason. It means a lot to our program! (The wins accomplishment) is the players! It’s nothing we (coaches) do! We guide them and they do all the work. All the players before the players today started setting that ground work for what we are accomplishing now. From 2019 to today.”
The Hawks have now won 10 in a row, standing at 22-5 overall and 4-1 in the RVC. Tipton is 8-17 and 2-4 in league play. The Golden Hawks travel to No. 9 Iowa City Regina Tuesday with the winner taking the outright River Valley Conference crown.