4A Recap, Reaction: North Scott Completes Special Run

Get 30% off your first billing cycle with code: howe30 in the coupon code area   <a href="https://ighsau.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/25statevolleyball/4a7.pdf">BOX SCORE</a>   CORALVILLE - Thursday's Class 4A State Championship match wasn't supposed to include North Scott. Despite winning 12 matches in a row, including one against top-ranked Clear Creek Amana, the [program_tooltip program_id='431978' first='Lancers' last=''] were the fifth seed in an eight-team field.   Turns out, what others thought about their chances didn't matter. They believed in themselves. That and an unstoppable force in outside hitter in [player_tooltip player_id='800048' first='Kenzie' last='Moeller'] was good enough for a second state championship in three years.   North Scott overcame second-seeded Sioux Center, 3-1, in the final here at Xtream Arena. It knocked off top-seeded Clear Creek Amana on Wednesday. No doubt, the Lancers earned their second title in three years.   "We know that we've kind of been underestimated, especially in some of those rankings that have come out earlier," North Scott setter [player_tooltip player_id='389008' first='Addison' last='Allen'] said. "We've worked our butts off to get to this point, and we really knew that we could prove everybody wrong."   It took the Lancers time to gel this season under first-year coach Brian Schubert, who changed their system and approach. He and the players stayed patient and worked through it together.   "They were getting used to me. I was getting used to them. Anytime there's changes, there's always a possibility for mistakes and errors," Schubert said. "But once we got to the point where they are like, okay, now I'm executing the game plan that the coaches are working with us on, that's why we're at a 15-match win streak. I mean, that's the bottom line."   Sioux Center eked out a 25-23 win in Set 1 but the [program_tooltip program_id='431978' first='Lancers' last=''] battled back for a 25-22, second-set victory. The Warriors built a 19-13 lead in the third before North Scott did what it does - grind out points.   The Lancers tied it at 21-21, leading to Sioux Center burning the second of its two timeouts in the set. It didn't stop the momentum, however. North Scott continually dug up the Warrior attack, keeping plays alive. Consecutive kills by [player_tooltip player_id='808221' first='Adalynn' last='Johnson'] and Moeller gave North Scott set point before a Sioux Center error ended it at 25-21 for the everybody else's underdog.   North Scott used the momentum built from the end of the third set to take a 15-8 lead in the fourth. The Warriors fought back to within four points at 21-17, but a service error pushed the deficit to five. A Moeller kill off of the block attempt put the Lancers up, 23-17. Two point later, the Southern Illinois commit finished it off with a kill down the line.   After cranking out 31 kills to go with 17 digs and a pair of blocks in a five-set upset of Clear Creek Amana in Wednesday's semifinals, Moeller delivered 34 in the final. She was named the captain of the 4A all-tournament team after putting down 92 kills in three matches here this week.   She was a key part of a state championship two years ago. This week, she was the difference in helping the fifth seed emerge victorious.   "I think we felt a little bit disrespected, but we knew it's just seeding," Moeller said. "Not a lot of people saw us in the season, so they can't know what we did to get to this point. Sometimes our stats were not that great, but we've grown a lot."   The Lancers also put Allen on the all-tournament squad. She and Moeller were joined by Sioux Center's [player_tooltip player_id='575152' first='Courteney' last='Schmidt'], [player_tooltip player_id='841522' first='Adison' last='Brantsen'] and [player_tooltip player_id='816843' first='Maryn' last='Franken'] along with Pella's [player_tooltip player_id='389942' first='Katie' last='Scheckel'] and [player_tooltip player_id='361168' first='Averie' last='Lower'] from Clear Creek Amana.   North Scott, which is located an hour from here, benefitted from much larger student-section than the Warriors had. Sioux Center residents had to travel five times as far.   "They all want to win. We have good, successful sports (at North Scott), but I think our student section is a big part of that," Moeller said.   Sioux Center didn't achieve the end result it wanted, but the Warriors bring back a good core next season.   "The (state tournament) experience is everything," Franken said. "I think just having that fire, you know, watching them pick up a trophy and give them shirts, that's kind of stuff that lives with you. That's going to motivate us for next year to come right back here."   <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/RZ9kZiRnXAA </div></figure>   <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/YLtV2BpUtP4 </div></figure>

Get 30% off your first billing cycle with code: howe30 in the coupon code area