For the third time in school history, and first time since 2004, the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk volleyball team is going to State. The No. 8 Golden Hawks outlasted the No. 10 Wilton Beavers in four sets Tuesday in a Class 3A Regional Final at Tim Grady Gymnasium in Wellman. The Hawks took the match by scores of 25-22, 21-25, 25-14 and 25-23. The Hawks started strong in all three of their set wins, opening leads of at least 4-0. The deciding set saw the Beavers rally and tie things at 22 late. Mid-Prairie called a time-out, regrouped and finished the win with a Jeorgia Evans tip, igniting a celebration in Wellman. Following the match and banner presentation, Golden Hawks Katelyn Harland, Brylee Gearhart, Callie Huber, Dakota Mitchell and Jovi and Jeorgia Evans joined KCII Sports live to talk about the night.
Harland said, “We’re so happy. It was so crazy! You see they don’t get the ball up and everyone is ecstatic! It’s such an amazing feeling!”
Huber added, “It was amazing! So fun! It was so loud, like nothing I have ever experienced before. This means so much. We’re going to leave a legacy here, not only as conference champs but now going to State for the first time in 20 years. It’s a big deal!”
Gearhart continued, “It was the best part of my volleyball career so far. People are going to see the 2024 on that banner and it’s going to be us!”
Mitchell said, “We played fast, we started strong. Our serve/receive was really good. Our hitters were hitting well and our block was doing well. Everything was clicking! We’ve wanted this so badly the last four years. We’ve worked so hard. I knew we could do it, and we finally proved ourselves!”
Jovi and Jeorgia Evans added, “They tied it back up at 22. We grouped a little bit and said ‘We’ve got this! We just have to take care of business!’ and we did. (On the last point) I had to stare at the ref and make sure that everything was okay as everyone was cheering. Once the ball hit the ground, we just ran in and started jumping and celebrating. It all just felt so surreal. It’s so amazing because we have been striving for this. We have made it to the third round so many times and we came together at the end.”
Mid-Prairie stat leaders included Jovi Evans with 21 assists, 19 kills and 17 digs. Avery Helmuth had 25 assists and 15 digs, Dakota Mitchell ended with 25 digs and three aces. Jeorgia Evans added 15 digs. Callie Huber ended with 13 kills and four blocks. Katelyn Harland added three aces. The 2024 team now joins the 1996 and 2004 Golden Hawks as the only squads in program history to reach the State Tournament. The Hawks break through to State after being stopped in the Regional Finals each of the last two seasons. Mid-Prairie now stands at a school record 33 wins with eight losses. Wilton ends their season at 32-8. The Golden Hawks will play Tuesday at 10a.m. at Xtream Arena in Coralville in the Class 3A State Quarterfinals against No. 1 Mount Vernon. You can hear all of the action live across the KCII family of networks, beginning with the Golden Hawk Volleyball Pregame Show at 9:30a.m. You can hear full interviews with Golden Hawk players and coaches on this week’s Wednesday and Thursday editions of the KCII PM Sports Page.