Photo Courtesy of Mid-Prairie CSD Social Media
The No. 8 in Class 3A Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk volleyball team travels to Xtream Arena in Coralville today for their first State tournament match in 20 years when they battle the Mount Vernon Mustangs in the quarterfinals. The Golden Hawks advanced to State for the first time since 2004, and third time ever, with a four set win over Wilton a week ago in Wellman. Mid-Prairie has a 33-8 record, most wins in school history, and is ranked No. 8 in Class 3A in the final poll of the season from the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union. The Hawks are River Valley Conference South regular season and tournament champions. Statistically, the Hawks have 2,041 digs, fourth in Class 3A, 1,247 kills, fourth in 3A, with a .324 efficiency, second in 3A, 1,182 assists, fourth in 3A, 262 aces, fifth in 3A and 193 blocks. Individually, the Golden Hawks are led by Jovi Evans with 574 assists and 346 kills, sixth in 3A. Dakota Mitchell has 546 digs, third in 3A with 58 aces, seventh in 3A. Callie Huber is best with a .434 kill efficiency, fourth highest in 3A and 43 blocks.
Mount Vernon is 42-4, champions of the WAMAC Conference. They swept Nevada to reach State for the seventh straight season and 18th time overall. The Mustangs were runners-up a season ago and have two State titles in their history, the most recent 2009. Mount Vernon enters play ranked No. 1 in Class 3A in the final poll of the year from the IGHSAU. Stastically, the Mustangs lead the State in four team categories including kills with 1,434, kill efficiency .393, assists, 1,332 and aces with 321. They also have 1,286 digs and 259 blocks, eighth most in 3A. Individually, Sydney Huber leads the State with 1,196 assists, as does Chloe Meester with 534 kills and a .467 kill efficiency. Eryn Jackson’s 77 aces are third best to go with her 412 digs, and CaliAna Whitaker’s 86 blocks are eighth in 3A. Following their regional final win, Golden Hawk co-head coaches Sherry and Zeb Evans talked about the team’s mindset for State and keys to success in Coralville.
Sherry Evans said, “We have to play our way. It’s fast, it’s scrappy, moving the ball around, being disciplined. We have to keep our minds right.”
Zeb Evans continued, “After the Regional Final we’ll reset. We feel like we have a team this year that doesn’t have to be one-and-done. We can go up to Coralville and compete at a high level. We have to keep the atmosphere in check. If we go there and do what we do, we’ll be fine. We can compete with anyone in the State. We knew when we started this year there was going to be a time when it all came together at the end. We feel really good about where we are and what we can do when we get there. We’ll take on anybody because we’re ready to go!”
These two teams have met four times since 2011, with the Mustangs winning each match in a sweep, including in August of this season at a tournament in Pella. You can hear all of the action live today on all KCII signals, streams and apps, beginning with the Golden Hawk Volleyball Pregame Show at 9:30a.m. and first serve between the No. 8 Hawks and No. 1 Mustangs at 10 from Xtream Arena in Coralville.