Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Senior night is a special event for every team.

Senior night celebrations don’t get any better than the one City High enjoyed on Tuesday.

Led by seniors Sidney Slay, Claire Ernst and Jordyn Kucera City High swept cross-town rival West High 25-19, 25-14, 25-18 in the annual Battle for the Spike at City High.

Slay, Ernst and Kucera combined 19 kills and seven ace serves in their final Battle for the Spike as Class 5A No. 11 City High improved to 15-8 on the season.

“It feels really good, I’m really proud of how we came together,” Ernst said. “I think we really came together tonight, I couldn’t ask for a better senior night.”

The senior night win for City High avenged a five-set loss to West High in the Battle for the Spike last season and was the fourth win in the last meetings in the Spike series for the Little Hawks.

“It really feels great, we lost to them last year in five and it was a close one so to get this especially on senior night it means a lot,” Kucera said. “We gave it our all and it ended how we wanted.”

Ernst and freshman Hattie Galloway each had nine kills and Slay and junior Emmy McComas each had eight for City High which was in control from the opening serve.

City High used a 9-1 run to take a 9-3 lead in the opening set and never trailed again on its way to a 25-19 win.

Slay had two aces and a kill during the 9-1 City High burst that seemed to set a tone for the night.

“I think they came out ready to play,” City High coach Carolyn Giese said. “We did a lot of work preparing for this match both on the court and with our mental game just trying to stay in the present moment and play our game. We wanted them to have the most fun we could tonight on senior night.”

West High (6-18) cut the City High lead to 20-18 with a 3-0 run in the opening set but the Little Hawks responded by scoring five of the final six points.

McComas had a pair of aces and Galloway had the set-clinching kill in the opening set.

“To start off strong was a really big thing for us,” Kucera said. “I think that gave us confidence going into the rest of the game.”

Ernst had five of her nine kills in the opening set as City High gained momentum early.

“I think we were just really scrappy,” Ernst said. “Our energy was super high and that’s really what helped our intensity and helped us push.”

The final two sets were all City High.

Leading 8-5 in the second set City High rattled off nine consecutive points to take control.

The 9-0 run started with back-to-back kills by Galloway and concluded with consecutive aces from Kucera.

“We are working really hard in practices and it’s starting to show in the games,” Kucera said. “We are really coming together.”

City High never trailed in the final set, breaking an 8-8 tie with a 4-0 burst and then putting the match away with a 6-1 run to close out the set.

McComas closed out the match with her third ace serve of the match as City High finished with 11 aces.

“I think we are really peaking at the right time,” Ernst said. “We are starting to come together and play as a team and are figuring out different roles.”

Melae’ Lacy had a match-high 11 kills and two ace serves for West High and freshman Sophia Austen added seven kills for the Trojans.

West High      19  14  18

City High       25  25  25

City High (Kills-aces-blocks)

Jordyn Kucera 2-3-0, Jessi Kucera 0-1-0, Sidney Slay 8-4-0, Kaitlin Loria 1-0-2, Hattie Galloway 9-0-1, Claire Ernst 9-0-0, Emmy McComas 8-3-2, Totals 37-11-5.

Assists – Sidney Slay 11, Jordyn Kucera 9

West High (Kills-aces-blocks)

Elle Barnett 1-0-0, Ava Bruxvoort 4-0-0, Sophia Austen 7-0-0, Melae’ Lacy 11-2-0, Jocelyn Jacobsen 1-1-2, Emma Stammeyer 3-0-2, Helen Penning 1-0-0, Totals 28-5-2.

Assists – Emma Stammeyer 10, Elle Barnett 7

Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by donating.