3A Recap, Reaction: Dangerous Humboldt Playing Carefree

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Get 30% off your first billing cycle with code:&nbsp;howe30&nbsp;in the coupon code area</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>CORALVILLE - </strong>As the fifth-seed in the Class 3A state tournament field, Humboldt's approach is a simple one - play loose with nothing to lose. Turns out, it works really well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Wildcats rolled to a three-set victory (25-16, 25-15, 25-21) against No. 4 Cherokee Washington in Tuesday's quarterfinal here at Xtream Arena. Humboldt's victory set up a semifinal meeting with top-ranked Western Christian on Wednesday. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Wildcats say - Bring it on. They're playing with house money.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"We have nothing to lose. That's our thing right now," Humboldt coach Kara Waldorf said. "If we play our game, we can compete with the best of the teams in this state. We have. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"We have nothing to lose, so leave it all out there. Western Christian is obviously an awesome team. We lost to them in the regional final last year. So, we're excited to get another shot at them." </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Making just their second appearance in the state tournament (2020), the Wildcats did not look like a nervous bunch on Tuesday. In fact, they appeared locked in. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"We had a really big talk leading up to the state tournament," sophomore setter Addie Waldorf said. "We have nothing to lose. We were the underdog in that game. We just wanted to play out best and leave it all out on the court and have fun. That's what we did, and that's what kept us calm." </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='746258' first='Adelynn' last='Goodell'] led the winners with 14 kills, while [player_tooltip player_id='261087' first='Mia' last='Schluter'] and [player_tooltip player_id='758779' first='Kendall' last='Works'] each collected 12. Waldorf handed out 39 assists to go with eight digs, and [player_tooltip player_id='801455' first='Claire' last='Dieleman'] came up with 12 digs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"A lot of us have played in big arenas for club, so we knew we just had to play our best game," Schluter said of Humboldt avoiding nerves getting in its way. "We knew this could be our last game, so we just had to go out there and played composed. We play a lot of good teams during the season." </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cherokee had an easier time during its regular season. It lacked many tests against top teams, only seeing one match go four sets and not being involved in a five-setter. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"This was easily the hardest game we played all season," Cherokee's Ellan Mortenson said. "Our road to state wasn't as difficult as some of the other teams ranked lower than us here. We thought the rallies (Tuesday) would be tough, but not too tough. It was back and forth, but that was a really good team." </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='574225' first='Addy' last='Wolfswinkel'] paced Cherokee with 12 kills, [player_tooltip player_id='493982' first='Deidra' last='Doeden'] had nine and Mortsenson chipped in eight. [player_tooltip player_id='795577' first='Kendyl' last='Fox'] came up with nine digs, and Wolfswinkel had eight. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/eKD_QUPPVgE","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/eKD_QUPPVgE </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/0D-XGY35WvY","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/0D-XGY35WvY </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->