City High Sweeps West High in Battle for the Spike

Ryan Murken Follow @rmmurken August 27, 2019

Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – The only thing better than starting the season with a win is a season-opening victory over a big-time rival.

Class 5A No. 12 City High got both on Tuesday with what the Little Hawks hope is a tone-setting 25-13, 25-23, 25-13 sweep of cross-town rival West High in the annual Battle for the Spike at West High.

The victory snapped a four-match losing skid in the series for City High as the Little Hawks regained control of the Spike for the first time since a five-set win in 2014.

“It’s been a long time so we’ve been waiting for this moment,” City High senior Mia Loughran said. “It’s really big for us because it’s going to set the tone for the season, starting out with a win is always good especially against West.”

City High controlled the match from the outset and finished with a 40-14 edge in kills while winning its season opener for the first time in four seasons.

Last year a four-set loss to West High in the opener led to a 1-2 start for the Little Hawks.

This time City High was composed and confident from the beginning while recording just the second straight set victory for either team in the series in the last seven meetings.

“The last few years we have really struggled to maintain our composure and just focus on executing how we are capable of in this match,” City High coach Tricia Carty said. “Our whole goal tonight was to stay composed and execute what we are capable of doing. We had a little lull in set three but we were able to keep our composure get back to basics so I am really proud of that execution.”

Sophomore Makayla Ribble and senior Cecilia Aldrich-Ingram each had 10 kills to lead a balanced City High attack that featured four players with at least six kills.

Loughran had eight kills and junior Alia Vanderhoef added six as City High got contributions from across the lineup.

“It means the world to us,” Aldrich-Ingram said. “We have been waiting for this for so long, we’ve been building ourselves up for this moment and now that we’ve got it we are so pumped.”

City High seized control of the match early using a 7-1 run to build a 15-6 run in the opening set.

Loughran had a kill and back-to-back ace serves in a five-point spurt that featured back-to-back Aldrich-Ingram kills that put the Little Hawks on top 13-5.

Aldrich-Ingram had five of her 10 kills as City High rolled to a 25-13 win in the opening set.

“That was definitely the biggest thing that we had to do was take control early,” Aldrich-Ingram said. “Communication was key for us for sure. We definitely talked a lot which helped us.”

City High appeared to be pulling away again in the second set, taking a 20-14 lead but this time West High answered.

The Women of Troy used a 7-1 run to pull even at 21 and had the score tied at 23 after a City High hitting error.

City High came up with the plays late to take a two sets to none lead.

Ribble gave the Little Hawks a 24-23 with a cross court kill and Loughran provided the winner in a 25-23 win.

“Coming out here and seeing exactly what we can do is eye-opening,” Loughran said. “I am really confident in my team and I am so excited for the season to see what we can do.”

West High scored the first six points of the third set but it was all Little Hawks the rest of the way.

Vanderhoef recorded a kill out of a City High timeout to spark a 7-0 run that gave the momentum back to the Little Hawks.

“None of our hitters were able to get anything so I was like ‘maybe we should try something different’,” Ribble said. “We moved CeCe to the middle and Alia to outside and we got the next point and that got us going.”

City High led just 12-10 in the third set before scoring 13 of the final 16 points.

“It’s so much easier when you have six really good players and you don’t just have one shining star,” Loughran said. “We can trust everybody we aren’t just relying on one person. You know that your teammates are going to do something and they are going to do it well.”

Natalie Young led West High with five kills while sophomore Misha Canin had three kills and three ace blocks.

City High 25 25 25

West High 13 23 13

City High (Kills-aces-blocks)

Lindsey Bolton 0-1-0, Cecilia Aldrich-Ingram 10-0-0, Maya Morales 0-3-0, Joslyn Becker 3-0-0, Alia Vanderhoef 6-0-0, Mia Loughran 8-1-0, Makayla Ribble 10-3-0, Emma Nugent 3-0-0, Team 40-8-0.

Assists – Lindsey Bolton 15, Makayla Ribble 14