Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Sophie Austen wouldn’t mind forgetting her first ever appearance in the annual Battle for the Spike.

Last season Austen had eight kills in her Spike debut as West High was swept at City High.

Austen had a performance to remember on Thursday in her second shot at cross-town rival City High.

Austen hammered a match-high 32 kills as West High upset Class 5A No. 10 City High 21-25, 25-17, 25-21, 24-26, 15-9 to win the Battle of the Spike in five sets for the second time in three seasons.

“This was insane,” Austen said. “Five sets in your own gym, I think it’s 85 degrees in here. I definitely won’t be forgetting this one anytime soon.”

Austen had 24 of her 32 kills in the final three sets as West High avenged its straight set loss at City High a year ago.

The 6-foot-1 Austen had five kills in the decisive fifth set after hammering 10 in the third set and nine more in the fourth.

“They just could not defend her,” West High sophomore setter Lila Eastvold said. “She is just really fun to play with and I try to set her as much as possible.”

Senior Ava Bruxvoort had 15 kills and 6-foot-3 freshman Audrey Small added 12 as West High improved to 10-10 on the season.

Small and Bruxvoort each had two kills in the decisive fifth set.

“This group is just crazy strong,” Austen said. “We’ve been through so much and that just makes us stronger.”

City High (14-9) erased an early 11-6 deficit in the opening set with an 8-0 run and took control with a 7-1 burst on its way to a 25-21 win.

Austen had just three kills in the opening set but had five in a 25-17 win in the second set.

That was just the start for Austen and the Trojans.

“After the first set we didn’t miss as many serves and we passed better,” Eastvold said. “I think we just woke up a little.”

West High scored the final five points of the second set on its way to a 25-21 win.

Austen had 10 kills in the set but Bruxvoort had two kills and Small had a kill in the five-point run to close out the set.

“We are really close and we are always there for each other,” Austen said. “If we have a bad play we always talk about next ball mentality and we help each other with that.”

West High led 23-18 in the fourth set before City High mounted a furious rally.

The Little Hawks scored five straight points to even the match at 23 and then scored the final three points forcing a fifth set with back-to-back Hattie Galloway kills.

West High would regroup.

“We really talked about just playing our volleyball,” Austen said. “We had it all set and then we kind of let it slip away, we thought the set was over at the end. Between sets we said we are going to go out there and play our game.”

City High led 3-2 early in the fifth set but West High scored the next five points.

Austen had two kills, senior Gracie Liu had a kill and Small had a kill during the 5-0 burst.

“It was 2-2 and our mentality was it was 0-0,” Eastvold said. “We just played our game there and we didn’t worry about the opponent.”

City High never got closer than three points the rest of the set.

Galloway had 15 kills, four solo blocks and two ace serves to lead City High while Emmy McComas had 12 kills and Kaitlin Loria had 11.

Liu had five kills for West High while Elle Barnett had three ace serves and Bruxvoort and Eastvold each had two aces.

“It feels amazing,” Austen said. “It’s one to remember for sure.”

City High                   25  17  21  26   9

West High                  21  25  25  24  15

City High (Kills-aces-blocks)

Hazel Schluckebier 1-0-1, Maeve Obermueller 2-0-0, Lila Howe 0-2-0, McKenzie Brown 1-0-1, Rainie Pfohl 1-0-0, Kaitlin Loria 11-1-0, Hattie Galloway 15-2-4, Emmy McComas 12-0-0, Totals 43-5-6.

Assists – Hazel Schluckebier 41

West High (Kills-aces-blocks)

Gracie Liu 5-0-1, Elle Barnett 0-3-0, Ava Bruxvoort 15-2-0, Lila Eastvold 1-2-0, Emma Fish 0-1-0, Audrey Small 12-1-0, Sophie Bodin 1-0-0, Sophia Austen 32-1-2, Totals 66-10-3.

Assists – Lila Eastvold 58

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