WELLMAN

Hours before Mid-Prairie’s Golden Hawks had stepped onto its home volleyball court on Senior Night, Sept. 19, they had been dropped six spots in the Iowa 3A poll, from number 6 to 12.

As they lined up to face Wilton, traditionally a River Valley Conference power, the Golden Hawks came up against a team that hadn’t lost a match, or even a set, all season.

The Beavers never realized the angry storm brewing in front of them.

Mid-Prairie scored the first six points of the opening set on the way to a 25-12 win. Then the Golden Hawks won the next two sets, 25-23 and 25-17, to sweep Wilton and make a River Valley statement just one week after they had lost to 11th-ranked West Liberty.

“We knew that they were undefeated,” said Mid-Prairie junior Jovi Evans, “and we were like, we’re going to be the ones to take that away from them. They don’t deserve that title.”

Harper Pacha, Mid-Prairie’s 6-foot outside hitter, began the match by slamming a kill from above the net. Pacha and Evans added kills in that early-set run. Katelyn Harland had a service ace.

The Golden Hawks went on an 8-2 run to open the first set and closed it with a 6-1 run.

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“After West Liberty, our heads were down,” Evans said. “We were really disappointed with that. It kind of woke us up a little bit, so it might have been a really good thing that happened.”

In addition to a dominant offense that featured a match-high 10 kills by senior Callie Huber, 9 kills by Pacha and 22 assists by Evans, the Golden Hawks had nearly four times the blocks that Wilton did, 15-4. Evans had four and senior Brylee Gearhart had three, and Jeorgia Evans, Harland, Huber and Pacha each had two.

“From a blocking standpoint tonight, it was insane,” co-coach Zeb Evans said. “Our blocking was as good as we’ve ever had here.”

Kinsey Drake, a senior, led Wilton with 9 kills, but Beaver hitters were often faced with double blockers in Harper and Gearhart or Harper and Huber. All of them are at least 6 feet tall; Wilton senior hitters Kaydence Boorn and Drake are 5-7, giving up 5 inches.

Wilton scored seven of the first nine points in the second set, but the Golden Hawks closed quickly and tied the score at 10-10. They fell behind by five points, 17-12, then rallied for the win.

“They crawled back,” Zeb Evans said. “They gave up a four or five-point run right off the start and we know we can’t do that. We’ve got to flip our minds to when we come back out there, we’re ready to go instantly.”

Mid-Prairie senior Dakota Mitchell, who ranks third in 3A in digs, had a game-high 26 digs. Jeorgia Evans, a freshman, had a match-high 2 aces and 12 digs.

The victory pulled the Golden Hawks back into the midst of the River Valley South title race alongside West Liberty, Iowa City Regina and Wilton. The Golden Hawks (15-5), whose only losses have come to ranked teams in 5A, 4A and 3A, play Saturday in a tournament at South Tama.