No. 7-ranked Go-Hawks sweep Comets
By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com
CHARLES CITY — The Charles City Comets arguably played their best set of the season while trying to avoid a sweep from Class 4A No. 7-ranked Waverly-Shell Rock, Thursday at Comet Gym.
The heavily favored Go-Hawks had enough riding on the Northeast Iowa Conference match not to look past the Comets. They went into Thursday with a 5-0 record in the NEIC, which at the time tied them with New Hampton.
Waverly-Shell Rock’s schedule is also due to get tougher, so any match that it should win it needs to win.
In the first set, the Go-Hawks displayed that urgency as they were in control from start to finish on way to winning 25-10.
In the second set, the Comets took a 9-7 lead on a blocking kill by Sarah Mitchell, but several kills by Go-Hawk senior Jessica Jacobs helped W-SR go up 13-12 before winning 25-18.
In the third set, Charles City jumped out to a 12-4 lead on Sami Heyer’s blocking kill.
The Go-Hawks were able to score the next two points, but when a long rally featuring all-out saves by both teams finally ended with a deft touch-kill by Comet sophomore Danielle Stock, it made the score 13-6 and got the Homecoming-inspired student section fired up.
An ace by Jazlyn Westmoreland tied the set at 19, and when kills by Brylee Folkerts and Jacobs put the Go-Hawks up 21-19, it seemed as if the Comets were going to be finally silenced for the night.
But a blocking kill by Stock tied the set at 23 before the set again was tied at 24.
A bump that rocketed into the rafters proved to be a too difficult play to keep alive when it came down on the Comets’ side of the net giving the Go-Hawks the lead with “ad-in” advantage before W-SR won the set 26-24 to complete the sweep.
Waverly-Shell Rock improved to 23-6 overall.
The Comets fell to 8-17 and 2-2 in the NEIC, and will host a tournament Saturday at Comet Gym which will include aforementioned New Hampton as well as Class 1A No. 1-ranked Janesville
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