The Riverside Lady Dawgs won a 3-1 match over Gehlen Catholic in Denison on Wednesday night to advance to the state volleyball tournament for the first time in school history. Riverside won 25-19, 25-23, 14-25, 25-18.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a great start by controlling the action in the first set. Riverside’s Sophia Taylor said their preparation set them up for that kind of early success.

The second set was a bit more wild. Gehlen Catholic ripped off a 10-point rally midway through to lead 18-10. Riverside didn’t hang their heads and started chipping away at that lead. A five-point and 4-point run brought them all the way back to the lead at 23-22. Gehlen tied it at 23 but the Bulldogs scored the next two to complete the set comeback. Riverside Head Coach Brooke Flathers said that was a great momentum swing.

The third was controlled by Gehlen Catholic for most of the set but it didn’t seem to phase the Lady Dawgs. Riverside scored the first two points of the fourth and then used a nine-point run to grab a strangle hold on the match building a 20-9 lead. The Jays didn’t go away easily, using a six-point run to close the gap but Riverside eventually closed it out. Veronica Andrusyshyn had a monster night with 19 kills, 2 aces, 9 digs, and 1 block. The senior was thrilled to earn the trip to state.

Riverside has showed an ability to move past mistakes and focus on the next point during this postseason run. They battled through a fifth set and match point against Stanton in the regional semis and then didn’t flinch when Gehlen had a big run in the second and won the third set in the final. Junior Elyssa Amdor said their mental approach has maybe been their biggest point of growth this season.

It’s been a road of improvement for Riverside and Coach Flathers. She was overjoyed that it has grown to this moment.

The Riverside Bulldogs drew the 8-seed for the 1A State Tournament and will play top-seeded Springville at 6:00 p.m. next Tuesday night in Coralville. We’ll have coverage on KJAN.

Listen to the full postgame interviews with Coach Flathers, Sophia Taylor, Veronica Andrusyshyn, and Elyssa Amdor below.

Riverside Stats:

Ayla Richardson – 28 assists, 6 digs , 3 block
Veronica Andrusyshyn – 19 kills, 2 aces, 9 digs, 1 block
Madison Baldwin – 17 digs
Mackenzie Olmstead-Mitchell – 10 kills, 1 dig, 3 blocks
Carly Henderson – 2 aces, 9 digs
Elyssa Amdor – 2 kills, 4 digs
Sophia Taylor – 5 kills, 1 ace, 2 digs, 6 blocks
Elly Henderson – 4 kills, 1 dig, 3 blocks

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