West Delaware Volleyball Looks to Continue Postseason Tradition

The West Delaware girls’ volleyball team knew they had big shoes to fill coming into the season. And fill them they have.

After qualifying for state the past four years and losing eight seniors, the players knew they had to improve daily in order to bring home a state banner once again.

The girls showed their skill Oct. 6, defeating Dyersville Beckman, 25-23, 24-26, 25-22, 25-20, in their last WaMaC conference game. The Hawks, with a record of 40-4, clinched the WaMaC East Title for the fourth year in a row.

“To be able to stay on top of such a competitive conference for four straight seasons is quite an accomplishment,” Coach Brett Mather said.

At the Westside Tournament Oct. 8, the Hawks took second. Linn-Mar beat them, 2-0, but the Hawks battled all day to end up second. In pool-play the Hawks took down Grundy Center, Mount Vernon, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, and later defeated Dubuque Hempstead in bracket-play.

“At times we competed at a very high level,” Mather said. “The tough competition was extremely beneficial.”

In WaMaC tournament pool-play, Oct. 11 in DeWitt, the Hawks went 3-0 defeating Maquoketa, South Tama, and Benton.

WaMaC bracket-play took place on Oct. 13, in Mount Vernon. The Hawks faced tough matches. The girls won their first match against Western Dubuque, 26-24, 24-26, 15-13. In the semi-finals, the Hawks played Independence for the third time this year. Winning, 18-25, 25-19, 15-8, the Hawks were headed to the championship match once again.

The Hawks fell short to a tough Marion team, losing the first game 20-25. The girls won the second game 25-23 and lost the third game 9-15.

“I think we battled ourselves as much as we did our opponents,” Mather said.

The postseason begins tonight at Seedorf Gymnasium against Oelwein at 7 p.m.

“We need to continue to practice at a high level,” Mather said. “We also need to maintain our focus of improving daily.”