Mid-Prairie sweeps Washington, finishes runner-up at Central Lee

By Jeff Yoder
Posted 8/25/22

Mid-Prairie had not trailed all night when Washington scored four straight points to take a 6-3 lead in the third set of Thursday’s season-opening match. 

Golden Hawk coach Sherry Evans called a timeout to allow her team to refocus.

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Mid-Prairie sweeps Washington, finishes runner-up at Central Lee

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Mid-Prairie had not trailed all night when Washington scored four straight points to take a 6-3 lead in the third set of Thursday’s season-opening match. 

Golden Hawk coach Sherry Evans called a timeout to allow her team to refocus. She told the huddle to “just make a pass. Just do what we have worked on for two and a half weeks in practice.”

Mid-Prairie took 11 of the next 14 points on the way to a three-set sweep. Ella Groenewold and Jovi Evans each had a kill during a six-point run that gave the Golden Hawks the lead for good. 

“Our passing definitely got better,” said senior Landry Pacha, “Once we got our tempo going with our passes, it finally came and we were doing better… and our hitters just started hitting and found the gaps.”

Mid-Prairie took the three sets 25-16, 25-15, and 25-16. The Demons kept the first set close until a three-point run put the Golden hawks ahead 12-8. Freshman Harper Pacha served four straight points as Mid-Prairie increased the lead to 24-15. She led the Golden Hawks in serve efficiency at 11-of-13 with two aces. 

Mid-Prairie opened up a 7-1 lead in the second set on the way to another win. 

“We definitely had some little first-match jitters,” Evans said. “It took a while for us to get started… but they came together, they played well together.

“This team is very tight. They trust in each other, and they know where (their teammates) are at out on the court.”

Dakota Mitchell had a team-high 16 digs for the Golden Hawks. 

“Defensively, our libero was amazing,” Evans said. “And then we had two setters running our offense, they both did a great job just mixing up the sets.”

Landry Pacha had 11 assists to go with her team-high seven kills, while Jovi Evans led the Golden Hawks with 16 assists. 

Groenewold finished with six kills and four blocks. 

There was a large crowd on hand to watch the season opener. Both the Washington student section and the visiting student section from Mid-Prairie wore white shirts on Thursday, and made plenty of noise from opposite corners of the gym. 

“The student section is always great,” Pacha said. “We had a little beef with (Washington) because of the white out theme, but they’re great, super encouraging, I just love it.”

Mid-Prairie opens the season at no. 14 in the IGHSAU’s Class 3A rankings.

“This is my fourth year — the seniors were freshmen when I started,” Evans explained. “There has been so much growth with them, and a lot of them did play for me as freshmen. The growth of our program has been amazing, and the leadership on our court with those seniors does a lot to contribute to that.”

Mid-Prairie goes 4-1, finishes second at Central Lee

The Golden Hawks split a pair of games with 2A no. 4 West Burlington on the way to a second-place finish in a tournament at Central Lee on Saturday. 

The Golden Hawks dominated both Pekin (21-7, 21-8) and Keokuk (21-6, 21-9) and swept the fourth-ranked Falcons 21-16, 21-15 to wrap up pool play undefeated. 

Golden Hawk setters Jovi Evans and Landry Pacha combined for 10 kills and 23 assists in the win over West Burlington. Groenewold had five kills and three blocks in the two-set victory. 

Mid-Prairie extended its season-opening winning streak to five games with a 25-10, 25-16 win over Burlington in the semifinals before dropping a rematch with West Burlington in the championship. 

Mid-Prairie took the Falcons to extra points in the first set before falling 28-26. West Burlington (4-1) took the second set 25-20 to claim the title. 

Evans led the Golden Hawks in kills (25) and assists (47) on Saturday, while Pacha added 24 kills, 43 assists, and 10 aces. Harper Pacha had 24 kills, and Groenewold finished with 11 kills and 14 blocks. Callie Huber had 13 kills and seven blocks. Mitchell had 63 digs in five games. 

Paige Safly saw her first action of the season on Saturday and was 30-of-32 serving with five aces.