CORALVILLE, Iowa – After reaching the state volleyball tournament for just the second time, Humboldt now has a chance to win it all. And the Wildcats gave themselves this opportunity by beating the program with the richest state tournament history of all, a 3-2 victory over top-seeded Western Christian in the Class 3A semifinals.
Fifth-seeded Humboldt improved to 33-6 with its 15th straight victory – and no doubt the most memorable of all – and will play second-seeded Davenport Assumption (27-7) in the championship match at 2:30 p.m. Thursday inside Xtream Arena.
Humboldt did it via scores of 16-25, 25-17, 19-25, 25-19, 15-13. The Wildcats were so solid in the final two sets that they trailed only once – 1-0 in set four.
Assumption, in the tournament for the eighth straight year, advanced with a 3-1 win over Kuemper Catholic of Carroll. The Knights rallied after losing the first set 25-21 to prevail 25-17, 25-17, 25-16.
Humboldt did just what it needed to do against a team like Western Christian (38-10), which was in the semifinals for the 25th straight year and was seeking its 23rd appearance in the title game in that span. The Wildcats blocked well, hustled around the court to keep balls in play and converted a solid percentage of their attacks.
Adelynn Goodell, a 6-foot-1 sophomore, pounded 21 kills and had a hand in eight blocks to lead Humboldt’s play at the net. Mia Schluter added 11 kills and 12 digs, while Addie Waldorf dished out 42 assists and tacked on 15 digs. Kendall Works contributed seven kills and assisted on three blocks.
Western Christian rallied from a 13-9 deficit in the fifth set with four straight points to tie it at 13-all. Schluter put away a kill to end the run and a stout double block produced the final point.
Morgan Kooiman led Western Christian with 20 kills. Scartlett Winterfeld and Bentley Bliek each added 10 kills to the attack, Maggie Van Schepen racked up 40 assists and Breslyn Kooima came up with 25 digs.
Western Christian made it to the state tournament for the 43rd time, more than any other school, and has won 19 state championships, second only to Wahlert Catholic’s 20 titles.
Assumption methodically took care of business after losing that first set and moved on behind Ellah Derrer’s 18 kills and 11 from Belle Cotton. Karsyn Kelley added nine kills to go with 39 assists and 11 digs and libero Piper Hodge came up with 35 digs.
Addy Anthofer led sixth-seeded Kuemper Catholic (32-3) with 11 kills, Kolbi Peter had eight and Mariah Heuton added seven. Setter Elsa Tiefenthaler recorded 27 assists and 19 digs.
