3A Recap, Reaction: Western Christian Rolls On

<!-- 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> There are always nerves playing at the state tournament. Anything that can be done to reduce their impact is welcomed. In Western Christian's case, its experience cuts through a great deal of it.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"There's a lot of nerves being in this arena, But being here, this is our fourth year in a row here, it feels like home in a way," Wolfpack junior Avery Dykstra said. "It's so much fun to play on this court, and being here before helps to ease the nerves." </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Top-seeded Western Christian sure looked relaxed during its Class 3A state quarterfinal win against defending champion Mount Vernon on Tuesday morning here at Xtream Arena. It swept the Mustangs - 25-12, 25-20, 25-16.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"Mount Vernon, who we saw in the last two state championships, so we did not want to overlook this team," Western Christian coach Tammi Veerbeek said. "Even through it was a different team than from a year ago, they have a lot of tradition and we have a lot of respect for them. We were ready to go."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='781456' first='Morgan' last='Kooiman']'s 13 kills led a balanced Wolfpack attack, that also saw [player_tooltip player_id='838030' first='Scarlett' last='Winterfeld'] produced 12. That duo also teamed up for eight blocks. [player_tooltip player_id='455736' first='Maggie' last='Van Schepen'] dished out 35 assists, and [player_tooltip player_id='741262' first='Breslyn' last='Kooima'] came up with 11 digs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Western was motivated after losing to the Mustangs in last year's state championship match.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"It was definitely a fun match to be in again," [player_tooltip player_id='781456' first='Morgan' last='Kooiman'] said. "Obviously we want to win any game and play our best in any game. It was really fun to get to play them again." </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='895141' first='Hayden' last='Gookin']'s six kills led the eighth-seeded Mount Vernon. [player_tooltip player_id='893732' first='Madison' last='Hoffert'] added five kills, and [player_tooltip player_id='754000' first='Cali' last='Whitaker'] had four with a pair of blocks. [player_tooltip player_id='488579' first='Mavrik' last='Schweer'] came up with nine digs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Wolfpack has torn apart most of its competition this season. Mount Vernon, which graduated three Division I athletes off of last year's state championship squad, knew it was up against it on Tuesday. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"We had to come up the rough side of the mountain get here. We lost a lot of key pieces from last year, so today really was truly no different," Mustang coach Maggie Willems said. "We were going to face an opponent that I liken to a 500-pound Lion. We knew that. Our goal was to do what we do well and not try to depart from that. There were periods in that match where we did that, we just couldn't sustain that level." </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/eh59fsW_708","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/eh59fsW_708 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/bWGeN0rkic0","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/bWGeN0rkic0 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->