CORALVILLE, Iowa – Denver is still on track to go back-to-back in Class 2A volleyball.
The top-seeded Cyclones (49-1) stumbled in the third set but otherwise did what they came do and beat Grundy Center 3-1 to return to the state championship game. They’ll go for their second consecutive title against Hinton and its hard-hitting star, Bailey Boeve, at 4:45 p.m. Thursday in Xtream Arena.
Hinton (30-2) beat Dike-New Hartford 3-1 to reach the finals for the second time in three years. The Blackhawks lost to Dike-New Hartford in the 2023 championship match.
With Hinton’s victory, this will mark just the second time this century that the finals will be played without any of the state’s Big Three in volleyball – Dike-New Hartford, Western Christian and Dubuque Wahlert Catholic. Western Christian lost to Humboldt in the Class 3A semifinals and Wahlert Catholic did not qualify for this year’s state tournament. The last time none of the three made the finals was 2009.
Denver kept rolling with a 25-16, 25-17, 19-25, 26-24 victory over fourth-seeded Grundy Center. The Spartans (26-10) threatened to take the match to a fifth set when they rallied from a 6-1 deficit to a tie at 24. But two straight kills finished it off for Denver, which has lost only to Sumner-Fredericksburg this season and has won 20 straight since that Sept. 27 setback at the Cyclones’ own tournament.
Setter Channing Johnson, a member of last year’s all-tournament team, again starred for Denver, racking up 43 assists while adding 11 kills and 14 digs. Bailey Mullihan and Adeana Murch led the attack with 15 kills each and Mullihan’s twin sister Grace added 12. Libero Mackenzie McEwan scrambled her way to 17 digs and Lexie Benham had 15.
Ryanne Brubaker, Grundy Center’s 6-foot-8 middle hitter, led the Spartans with 14 kills. Charlee Kirkpatrick added nine kills to go with 18 digs and Jenna Blythe hammered home eight kills. Lauren Zajac helped set the table for the hitters with 19 assists.
Boeve, who will play at Creighton next season, had another big game with 30 kills and contributed to the defense with 16 digs. This came after she pounded out 28 kills in a quarterfinal victory over Iowa City Regina. Adalyn Ortegren added 13 kills, while Addison Dunkel and Katelyn Hoefling each had 24 assists.
Second-seeded Dike-New Hartford (39-10) playing in the state tournament for the 34th time, got 15 kills from Abby Jensen and 11 from Aubrey Asche. Kailyn Meester had 34 assists for the Wolverines, who made it to the semifinal round for the 30th time but were denied a chance to win a 17th state title.
