Photo Courtesy of Dain Jeppson

One of the best seasons in Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk volleyball history drew to a close Tuesday night in the Class 3A Regional Finals at Center Point Urbana High School. The No. 12 Golden Hawks were eliminated one round shy of the State Tournament by the No. 7 Stormin’ Pointers in four sets, 25-23, 17-25, 25-17 and 25-21. Sophomore Jovi Evans had a monster match with a triple 20, 25 assists, 24 digs and 20 kills to lead the way. Junior Dakota Mitchell posted 31 digs. Sophomore Harper Pacha had 22, junior Lanee Duwa 13 and sophomore Avery Helmuth 12. Helmuth also chipped in 16 assists. Junior Callie Huber posted nine kills, Pacha eight and senior Paige Safly six. Helmuth and Pacha also had two aces each. After the match, Golden Hawk head coach Sherry Evans talked about what she saw as the deciding factors, her team’s set two win, and the tremendous season.

Evans said, “We did really well at the beginning, we played as a team, everybody was working hard and working together. I think later we lost a little bit of that. When adversity hits us, we tend to individualize. There was also a lack of communication. (In set two) Our girls came out with fire in their tummies and vengeance in their eyes, ready to play! During this season, we hit some milestones. Different teams that we beat, played with, took some sets from some ranked 5A schools. Those are big moments for us. The confidence it gives the girls that we can play with anybody. Our biggest issue is finishing up on that and maintaining that high level at all times.”

The Golden Hawks finish the year 31-11, one of the highest win totals in school history. They collected their first conference championship since 2002 and reached the regional finals for back to back years for the first time in nearly 20 seasons. The Golden Hawks say goodbye to seniors Paige Safly, Reese Good and Ava Pence. Center Point Urbana is 27-9 and advances to next week’s Class 3A State Tournament at Xstream Arena in Coralville.