The #4 (2A) Dike-New Hartford volleyball team stepped up in the game changing moments at the service line and the net to gain the edge, and punched their ticket to a fifth straight state tournament with a 3-0 win over #13 (2A) Wapsie Valley on Wednesday at Cedar Falls, as aired on 99 The Wave. The Wolverines won by set scores 25-14, 26-24, 25-21.
Set 1 featured seven ties including an 11-11 tie, the Wolverines went on a 10-1 scoring run to go up 21-12 and closed out the set. In Set 2, following an 11-11 tie, the team traded leads to a 24-24 tie, the Wolverines scored the final two points of the set to go up 2-0 in the match. In Set 3, following an 18-18 tie, Wolverines gained a late advantage with a 4-0 run to go up 22-18 and held off a Warriors rally to secure the sweep and state bid.
DNH Head Coach Diane Harms on a match between great teams and discipline of the Wolverines to earn a return to state.
“We talked about Wapsie Valley being a strong team, we knew they’d come back and that’s exactly what happened in the second set, it was back and forth, back and forth. It was a great atmosphere for volleyball, great teams playing each other tonight,” says Harms. “Extremely proud of them. They’re very disciplined, play really well together and they enjoy playing with each other. When they’re playing well and they’re moving, it’s really a lot of fun to watch what they’re able to do. Very exciting, very happy for this group of young ladies, they worked really hard to put themselves in this position to be able to go down and play at the state tournament next week.”
Izzy Norton had eight kills, and Aubrey Asche and Keely Kauten added seven kills apeice respectively.
Dike-New Hartford (29-15) is the #4-seed, and will face #5-seedAplington-Parkersburg in a state quarterfinal on Tuesday, November 5 at 4:00 p.m.
Head Coach Diane Harms Postgame
