Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

CORALVILLE – It was going to take a team playing its best match of the season to stop top-ranked Clear Creek Amana from claiming a state title this week.

North Scott was the team that came up with that performance.

Fourth-ranked North Scott got a match-high 20 kills from Creighton recruit Abbey Hayes and controlled the match from the outset in a 25-19, 25-15, 25-21 sweep of top-ranked Clear Creek Amana in a Class 4A state semifinal on Wednesday at Xtream Arena in Coralville.

“I think that was hands down the best match we’ve played,” Hayes said. “Towards the end of the season we have gotten so much better. We played the at a tournament in the middle of the season and it did not go very well but we’ve improved every day and I think we all played our best game.”

North Scott (28-4) avenged a semifinal loss to Clear Creek Amana with Wednesday’s win and advanced to the state title game for the first time since 1986.

The Lancers will face second-ranked Indianola (38-4) in the 4A championship on Thursday at 12:15 p.m.

“They played amazing,” Clear Creek Amana senior Bliss Beck said of North Scott. “They had great defense and they got around our block.”

Clear Creek Amana (46-1) had lost only four sets all season entering Wednesday’s semifinal after sweeping Norwalk in the quarterfinal on Monday.

The Clippers quickly found themselves in a hole in the semifinals.

North Scott used a 4-0 run to erase an early 11-7 Clipper lead in the opening set.

The Lancers snapped a 15-all tie with a 5-0 burst that featured two kills from senior Sydney Skarich and a kill from Hayes.

“We were a little fearful and they definitely were not,” Beck said. “They came in guns a-blazing, coming at us.”

North Scott scored the final three points of the opening set capped by a set-clinching kill from Hayes, the seventh of the set for the 6-foot-3 junior.

“When we start off strong then we relax more and we take bigger swings,” Hayes said. “That was our big thing was being loud in the beginning, having energy. We knew they were going to get points and they’d get a lead because they are a very, very good team so we didn’t let that get to us.”

North Scott jumped to a 4-0 lead in the second set and never trailed.

The Lancers had four runs of three points or more in the match while Clear Creek Amana never scored more than three consecutive points.

North Scott finished with twice as many kills as the Clippers, 54-27, and had a .215 to .085 edge in hitting efficiency.

“They were really hitting around our block, they did a job of that,” Clear Creek Amana senior Meg Berkland said. “They knew where we were going to hit and they were very good at that, too.”

North Scott made the key plays late in a 25-21 win in the third set to complete the staggering sweep.

The Lancers closed the match on a 5-1 run with kills from four different players and a block by senior Kaci Johnson that clinched the match.

Balance was a theme for the Lancers who had four players with at least six kills.

Johnson had 13 kills on .565 hitting to go with 26 assists and two blocks.

Skarich had nine kills and sophomore Kenzie Moeller had six kills.

“We are comfortable with any one of our hitters,” Johnson said. “We are all athletic and any of us can put a ball away when we have a one-on-one.”

Beck led Clear Creek Amana with 10 kills, five of which came in the first five Clipper points of the opening set.

Sophomore Averie Lower had five kills and Sam Schrage and Emily Henderson each had four kills for the Clippers.

“It was our best defensive game ever,” Johnson said. “We didn’t let a lot of balls hit the ground. Our mindset was defense wins games and we knew they had some bigger hits and we stopped them for sure.”

Berkland had 37 digs for Clear Creek Amana and is part of a memorable group of Clipper seniors that helped elevate the program to new heights.

Clear Creek Amana reached the state title game for the first time in program history last season before making the first consecutive state tournament trips this fall.

“We had an amazing season and we did so many special things,” Berkland said. “Yes we lost that match but it was at state, and a lot of girls don’t get to play here and they want to get here. We are very grateful that we got here and we did have a really incredible season.”

North Scott                            25  25  25

Clear Creek Amana              19  15  21

Clear Creek Amana (Kills-aces-blocks)

Meg Berkland 0-0-0, Bliss Beck 10-0-1, Emily Henderson 4-0-2, Kenadi Wood 0-1-0, Sariah Sherman 2-0-1, Elizabeth Timmerman 0-0-0, Sam Schrage 4-0-2, Addison Gisleson 2-0-0, Ava Locklear 0-0-0, Averie Lower 5-0-1, Totals 27-1-7.

Assists – Emily Henderson 14, Kenadi Wood 9, Addison Gisleson 1, Bliss Beck 1, Meg Berkland 1

North Scott (Kills-aces-blocks)

Abbey Hayes 20-1-1, Georgia Brunkan 0-0-0, Kaci Johnson 13-0-2, Emma Schermerhorn 0-0-0, Sydney Skarich 9-0-1, Sara Williams 0-0-0, Emee Allard 4-0-1, Madison Wilshusen 2-0-3, Kenzie Moeller 6-1-1, Totals 54-2-9.

Assists – Kaci Johnson 26, Emma Schermerhorn 20, Georgia Brunkan 3, Sydney Skarich 3

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