Photo Courtesy of Mid-Prairie CSD Social Media
The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk volleyball team enters Tuesday one win from the State Tournament. The Hawks host conference rival Wilton in the Class 3A Regional Finals tonight at Tim Grady Gymnasium in Wellman. Mid-Prairie comes in with a school record 32 wins this season, against just eight losses, sweeping their way past Davis County and Albia in the first two rounds of the postseason. The Golden Hawks were River Valley Conference South Division regular season and tournament champions. Mid-Prairie stands at No. 8 in the final Class 3A poll of the year from the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union. The Hawks have piled up the numbers this year including 1,950 digs, second most in Class 3A, 1,192 kills, fourth in 3A, 1,130 assists, fourth in 3A, a .322 kill efficiency, second in 3A, 255 aces, fifth in 3A and 183 blocks. Individual leaders include Jovi Evans with 553 assists and 327 kills, ninth in 3A. Dakota Mitchell has 521 digs, fourth in 3A with 55 aces, eighth in 3A, Callie Huber’s .426 kill efficiency is best on the team and fourth in 3A and Brylee Gearhart leads with 41 blocks.
The Wilton Beavers are 32-7 this year. Their postseason road has included a sweep of Fairfield and a four set win over West Liberty. The Beavers are ranked No. 10 in Class 3A in the latest Athletic Union poll. This year, they have 1,567 digs, 10th in Class 3A, 1,067 kills, 10th in 3A, 968 assists, 10th in 3A, a .233 kill efficiency eighth in 3A, 242 aces, sixth in 3A and 156 blocks. Individual leaders include Leah Caffery with 853 assists, sixth in 3A, Kinsey Drake with 344 digs and 330 kills, eighth in 3A, Annie Holladay with 58 aces, sixth in 3A, Ali Walker with a .338 kill efficiency, and Kaydence Boorn with 41 blocks. This week, Golden Hawk co-head coaches Sherry and Zeb Evans joined the KCII postgame show live to talk about their play in a win over Albia and keys to beating the Beavers.
Sherry Evans said, “We’re not the biggest team, but we are small and scrappy, and we play big. That sets the tone. I think our match with Albia was our best serve receive night. We have to do that if we are going to beat other teams moving forward. Going into the finals to get to State, we have to be ready. If we look like we did (in the second round) and do everything right. I think we have a good shot!”
Zeb Evans continued, “We have four or five girls that any team in Iowa would take, and we’re blessed to have them right here at Mid-Prairie! That allows us to run an offense the way we do out of a 6-2. In the first two rounds we’ve been really good. Everyone looks relaxed. I think they’re in that mindset where they are more mature than they were a year ago. It’s going to come down to controlling the ball. If we can do that, good things will happen!”
The Golden Hawks have beaten the Beavers twice this year and have won the last four in the series. Wilton holds the series lead 16-8 over the last 24 meetings. The Hawks are trying to earn their third bid ever to the State tournament, and first since 2004, while the Beavers are trying to get there for the sixth time ever and first since 2019. The winner of this match advances to the 2024 State Championships at Xtream Arena in Coralville. You can hear all of the action live tonight between the No. 8 Golden Hawks and No. 10 Beavers on AM 1380, FM 102.5, the KCII2 App and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Golden Hawk Volleyball Pregame Show at 6:30 and first serve at 7p.m. from Tim Grady Gymnasium in Wellman.