CORALVILLE, Iowa – North Scott put top-seeded Clear Creek-Amana in scramble mode from the outset and emerged with a berth in the Class 4A finals.
Power-hitting senior McKenzie Moeller pounded 31 kills and added 17 digs to lead the fifth-seeded Lancers to a 3-2 victory that sends them to the championship match against No. 2 seed Sioux Center at 12:15 pm. Thursday in Xtream Arena. The scores were 25-21, 21-25, 25-23, 18-25, 15-13.
Sioux Center advanced with a sweep of third-seeded Pella, 25-20, 25-12, 25-23.
North Scott (26-10) will be seeking its third state championship, having won most recently in 2023. Sioux Center is looking for is first championship. The Warriors had a runner-up finish in 2022.
Moeller, who’ll continue her career at Southern Illinois University next year, was a force throughout the match in helping her team pile up a 69-51 edge in kills against the Clippers’ formidable front line. Adalynn Johnson added 14 kills for the Lancers and Kamilah Eller finished with 12. Setter Addison Allen racked up 55 assists and 22 digs, while libero Ainsley Haedt positioned herself for 25 digs.
Averie Lower, who’ll play basketball at Arizona State, led Clear Creek-Amana (42-4) with 19 kills and 22 digs. Bailey Simpson added 13 kills and Emily Henderson had 39 assists.
North Scott appeared to be on its way to ending the match in the fourth set when it built a 15-10 lead. But Clear Creek-Amana finished with a 15-3 surge to send it to a fifth set and then opened a 13-10 lead. A block and two straight kills by Moeller tied it and a CCA kill attempt that went long gave the Lancers their final point.
Sioux Center got contributions throughout the lineup in its victory over last year’s state runner-up. Courtney Schmidt led with 10 kills, Maryn Franken had nine and Adison Brantsen finished with eight. Taylor Holverson had 16 assists and nine different players recorded a dig, Schmidt leading with eight.
Katie Scheckel’s 15 kills led Pella (32-11). Brooke Schulte added seven kills and Audika Visser totaled 22 assists.
