Comets advance to state with 3-1 regional final win over upstart Waterloo East Trojans

By John Burbridge  |  sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — It’s too easy of a metaphor to say that the Waterloo East Trojans dressed up as Cinderella for Halloween.

Rather, they might be the scariest 11-25 team ever to reach a regional final.

“We knew they played in a tough 5A conference so they were better than what their record indicated,” Charles City volleyball coach Sue Hoefer said of the Comets’ Class 4A-Region 5 championship match opponent.

“They’re a good defensive team, and they showed that tonight,” Hoefer said after the Comets were able to put away the upstart Trojans, 3-1, Monday to advance to the State Volleyball Tournament starting next Tuesday.

“And any team that wins a regional match to get to the final is a tough team to face,” Hoefer said.

The Trojans had shocked Waverly-Shell Rock in the semifinals after the Go-Hawks won the first two sets rather easily before dropping the next three.

On Monday, Charles City seized the control early in the first set before cruising to a 25-15 victory.

An ace by Katie Foster in the second set put the Comets up 4-2. But then the Trojans began to show why they were able to upset W-SR as consecutive kills by Madison Hyke and a blocking kill by Lexi Wroe put them up 15-9.

“I thought at that point we were playing not to lose rather than playing to win,” said Hoefer, who called a couple timeouts in efforts to right the ship.

“I thought by the end of the set we had regained the momentum,” Hoefer said. “Though we ended up losing the second set (27-25), we were playing much better going into the third.”

Kelsi Crooks’s kill gave the Comets a 3-0 lead in the third set before kills by Jodie Sindlinger and Tayler Schmidt extended the advantage to 9-4.

A series of kills by Wroe drew Waterloo East within one (10-9) before the Comets went on a 15-2 run highlighted by four kills by Crooks and a pair of well-placed finesse aces by Foster that capped the score at 25-11.

In the fourth set, Sydney Loeckle set up Crooks for a kill to make the score 14-8. The Trojans continued to show resiliency as another Wroe kill drew them within one (16-15). But the Comets finished on a 9-4 run to win the set (25-19) and advance to state.

“My adrenaline was really pumping this game,” said Comet junior Loeckle, who continued her setter role as team assist leader in the win.

Loeckle may have needed the adrenaline. During practice on Friday, she twisted her ankle which swelled up like a balloon.

But there was no way she was going to be kept off the court on Monday.

“This is one of the greatest feelings in the world … going down to state,” said Loeckle, who was a freshman when the Comets went to state in 2014 before making varsity last season.

Last year, the Comets were stopped short of state, breaking a string of appearances when Waverly-Shell Rock defeated them in the regional final.

Like her coach, Loeckle expected to see the Go-Hawks again but wasn’t “spooked” by the Trojans’ unexpected appearance.

“We had never seen them before, but they have never seen us before,” Loeckle said. “Because this was the first time they’ve seen us, that just gave us more confidence.”

The Comets (37-5) will play in the Class 4A quarterfinals on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids. The match will either be at 4 or 6 p.m.

The Class 4A semifinals will be played at 12 p.m. Nov. 10 with the championship match at 12:15 p.m. Nov. 11.