For the second time in three years the Riverside Bulldogs are heading to Coralville for the Iowa High School Volleyball State Championship Tournament at Xtreme Arena. Two teams came in with aspirations to make it to the state tournament, but it was Bulldogs that came through with a convincing 3-0 victory over the Akron-Westfield Westerners. Although sets one and three were close, it was a comeback from Riverside in set one that swung the momentum in the Bulldogs favor. A swing they would not relinquish for the rest of the night.

For as a dynamic team performance as it was for Riverside, set one did not start the way they wanted it. The senior experience of Akron-Westfield shone early as the young guns for the Bulldogs looked a little rattled. However, down 9-3 Head Coach Brooke Father’s called a timeout that helped settle down the bulldogs. After the timeout, Riverside flipped the switch and controlled play the rest of the set with help from Sophia Taylor who had 9 kills in the match. Once Riverside took the lead, they did not relinquish it taking set one 25-19.

Carrying over the momentum from their set one victory, the Bulldogs got off to a great start and dominated set two. Riverside went a 13-0 run to start the set. This was in large part due to the excellent service from Elly Henderson who had 5 aces in the match. Although the Westerners tried to quell the onslaught, the Bulldogs were relentless as Riverside took set two 25-9.

With their season on the line Akron-Westfield started to throw everything they had left at the Bulldogs. It seemed to work as the Westerners got ahead early building a modest lead. However, the story would end similarly to set one. Once Riverside got rolling Akron-Westfield couldn’t find an answer. Although the Westerners battled back late it was too little too late. In a fitting fashion Bentley Rone set up Henderson for the final kill as the Bulldogs took the set 25-19 to secure their spot in Coralville.

It was a truly team effort from the Bulldogs. No one player had more than 10 kills. In addition to Taylor, Henderson and Sydney Somers also had 9 kills while Rone factored in with 19 assists and 8 kills. Ashley Kelley was also a great distributor with 15 assists.

In a match that was largely controlled by Riverside, it was their ability to stay calm that flipped the script as Flathers commented on her team’s ability to battle back.

Flather was happy with the way her team used their energy and confidence to propel their big run.

The importance of effective serving is key in big game and it’s something that Flathers and her team put an emphasis on.

Flathers on the fitting ending to the match and the support her team received on Wednesday.

Riverside was in the same situation last season but were unable to pull it out. However, the emotions were at an all-time high this time around.

Riverside is scheduled to play their first match of the state tournament in Coralville on Tuesday.