The Golden Hawk volleyball team measured itself against one of the best programs in the state on Thursday in West Liberty. And for two sets, No. 15 Mid-Prairie (8-5) matched the fourth-ranked Comets (11-2) point for point. 

Neither team led by more than four points as West Liberty took the first set and the Golden Hawks answered in the second. But the Comets were able to build early leads in each of the final two sets to take a 25-22, 23-25, 25-17, 25-16 win. 

“I think they definitely picked on some of our spots that obviously were little weak spots for us,” Mid-Prairie coach Sherry Evans said.  “They got us on that tip, roll, thing down in the little corners here and there. So, we didn't do a very good job adjusting to that.”

The Golden Hawks had suffered 25 consecutive losses in straight sets to the Comets entering the contest, but the two teams looked evenly matched early on. 

Jovi Evans had a pair of kills as Mid-Prairie took five out of seven points to tie the first set at 10-10. The Comets went on to win by two points, but the Golden Hawks continued to battle. Mid-Prairie trailed 14-11 in the second set when Evans started serving. Her ace put Mid-Prairie up 15-14 and a Landry Pacha kill extended the lead to 17-15. 

With the 25-23 win, the Golden Hawks ended a streak of 66 consecutive sets taken by West Liberty in the series. 

“We read where they were going to hit, our serve receive was amazing,” Sherry Evans said. “We were putting the ball away and we didn't have as many errors.”

Pacha led the Golden Hawks with 12 kills and 19 assists, while Jovi Evans added seven kills and 18 assists. Ella Groenewold had eight kills, while Callie Huber and Harper Pacha each had five. 

Mid-Prairie was unable to carry momentum from the second set into the next one as West Liberty jumped out to an 8-3 lead. The Golden Hawks were down 18-9 before they could score back-to-back points. West Liberty had another fast start in the fourth set, grabbing a 13-4 advantage early.

“We acted like we won the state tournament after we took a set from them and I think that's kind of been a struggle for us in the past,” Evans said.”Like we win one and we think that's just okay. Instead of just pushing through and competing the entire match.”

Senior Monica Morales added to her state-leading total with 38 digs on Thursday. Senior Brooklyn Buysee had 47 assists and ranks second in 3A with 290 for the season. 

The early sets showed that the Golden Hawks are capable of competing at a high level, but the adjustments by West Liberty showed areas for improvement as well. 

“Pick up tips better, that’s our number one thing that we need to do,” Evans said. “And playing together as a unit. Picking each other up if someone’s struggling a little bit.”

Lanee Duwa went 11-for-12 serving and led Mid-Prairie with three aces. Groenwold led the Golden Hawks with four blocks and Huber had three. Sophomore libero Dakota Mitchell led the Golden Hawks with 29 digs on Thursday. 

“I think defensively, that's probably one of the best games that we've ever played, with the exception of those tip balls,” Evans said. “When they hit at us, we dug them and when they served at us, we passed pretty darn good. I think that's why they started tipping and rolling on us and we just weren't quite on our toes.”