Recap, Reaction: Western Christian Tops Roland-Story

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Get 30% off your first billing cycle with code: howe30 in the coupon code area</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>CORALVILLE - </strong>Eighth-seeded Roland-Story pushed No. 1 Western Christian in the first set of Tuesday's Class 3A state tournament quarterfinal here at Xtream Arena. The favorites would survive, 26-24, before rolling in sets two and three, 25-12, 25-16. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Wolfpack pointed to nerves and needing to settle into competing on the big stage for its slow start. It also changed up strategy, countering the Norsemen's overly aggressive block with tips. It loosened up the Roland-Story defense and the power attack became more effective.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Game over. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Western Christian advanced to Wednesday's semifinals, where it will take on a Humboldt program that upset the top-seeded Wolfpack in last year's semis. The No. 4 Wildcats took down fifth-seeded Solon, 3-1, on Tuesday. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='781456' first='Morgan' last='Kooiman'] led Western Christian with 15 kills during Tuesday's quarterfinals. Freshman [player_tooltip player_id='1053499' first='Josie' last='Hall'] added 12 kills for the winners, and [player_tooltip player_id='767740' first='Maddyn' last='De Jager'] and [player_tooltip player_id='902904' first='Kennedy' last='Van't Hul'] each had seven. [player_tooltip player_id='741260' first='Hadley' last='Dekkers'] handed out 37 assists, and [player_tooltip player_id='741262' first='Breslyn' last='Kooima'] came up with 13 digs, De Jager had 12 and Olivia Ten Napel chipped in eight.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='493981' first='Brookelyn' last='Jondle'] paced Roland-Story with 12 kills. Maddi Lucas added five kills, and Riley Johnson kicked in four. [player_tooltip player_id='493603' first='Miley' last='Geise'] handed out 21 assists and came up with nine digs. Karsyn Lande led the Norsemen with 10 digs, and Jondle posted nine. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Roland-Story finished a memorable season with a 36-9 mark, reaching the state tournament for the first time since 2002. Western Christian improved to 38-5 and kept alive the opportunity to win its 20th state title. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/GWOx5uEKShA","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/GWOx5uEKShA </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->