State-Bound: Volleyball gears up for quarterfinals

Jared Hylton/Sports Editor

The Tiger volleyball team defeated fifth-ranked Dowling Catholic in three sets on Wednesday, Nov. 2 to advance to State. The Tiger team was anchored by senior captains Krystal Graves and Jamie Farley.

“Going into the game we just all had the right mind set, that we were going to make every point count and we all knew how bad we wanted it,” Farley said.

The sweep of Dowling exclamates a 27-12 season as the Tigers head to the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena for State. Cedar Falls is scheduled to play at noon on Wednesday against second-ranked Iowa City High (38-3) in the first round.

If Cedar Falls defeats the Little Hawks, they will play again in the semi-finals on Friday against the winner of Waukee and Ankeny. “We are going to watch them and figure out their personnel and continue to get ourselves ready for Wednesday,” Graves said.

Graves contributed 13 kills from her middle hitter spot. Combined, Cedar Falls’ two middle hitters, Graves and sophomore Kaz Brown, accounted for 23 of the teams 43 kills.

Cedar Falls jumped on Dowling early, taking the first game by a score of 29-27. The Tigers never looked back. “We were all so pumped about this game. We all played as a team and had so much confidence all three games. We knew we could step up and do it,” senior Paige Miller said.

With the Tiger season and state title aspirations on the line, they’ll take it on the road to Cedar Rapids with high hopes of moving on to the semi-finals.