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COUNCIL BLUFFS — Eight-time national champion College of Southern Idaho was the last team to qualify for the National Junior College Athletic Association Volleyball Championship.
Now it’s trying to be the last team standing.
The sixth-ranked Golden Eagles (31-6) avenged their regional loss to top-seeded Salt Lake 21-25, 25-17, 25-13, 16-25, 15-10 in Friday’s national semifinals at the Mid-America Center to earn a shot at their first title under fourth-year coach Heidi Cartisser.
“If I had to take a loss at the region tournament and win a playoff game to be here at the dance and win that, I would take it,” said Cartisser, whose team will face No. 8 Missouri State-West Plains in tonight’s 6:30 tournament final. “It’s amazing. CSI has a great tradition, and to be able to carry on that tradition is huge. That’s why those girls chose to come to CSI, and that’s why I’m here, too.”
CSI, which had to beat No. 9 Eastern Arizona in a playoff just to get into the tournament following its regional loss to No. 4 Salt Lake, bounced back after dropping the first set to the Bruins on Friday to take three of the final four.
Jessica Peacock led the Golden Eagles with 19 kills, including the one on match point that clinched CSI’s first berth in the finals since its last national title team in 2005. Southern Idaho claimed six straight titles in the early 1990s and once won 190 straight matches.
Its opponent tonight doesn’t have that type of history, although West Plains is making its 11th tournament appearance in a row. The No. 8 Grizzlies (27-8) had never advanced to the finals, however, until they rallied to beat No. 3 Western Nebraska 25-18, 17-25, 16-25, 25-23, 15-8 on Friday.
In that match, first-year West Plains coach Paula Wiedemann’s team was on the ropes. West Plains had lost two straight sets and was down 23-19 in the fourth before reeling off six consecutive points to force a deciding set. And the Grizzlies dominated that one.
“Western Nebraska was playing great,” Wiedemann said. “They were firing on all cylinders. We were not feeling like we were doing what we needed to be doing to get back in this game. And once they started doing that, it made all the difference.”
All-American Kate Stepanova paced West Plains with 18 kills, and the Grizzlies hit .438 as a team in the final set. They hit .161 overall in the match, yet still advanced to their first title match.
Western Nebraska, which got 19 kills from All-American Kaleinani Kabalis, fell to 41-4 and will face Salt Lake in the third-place match today at 4:30 p.m.
IWCC to play for fifth place
After seeing its national championship hopes crushed by Missouri State-West Plains the night before, No. 5 Iowa Western rebounded to beat No. 17 Frank Phillips (Texas) 25-23, 27-25, 19-25, 25-22 Friday to advance to today’s 2:30 p.m. fifth-place match against No. 7 Miami Dade.
All-American Celeste Bonter led the Reivers (42-5) with 21 kills while freshman Lacy Alexander tallied nine, including three and a solo block in the final six points of the match.
“Last night was tough on our kids,” IWCC coach Darrin McBroom said. “I’m really proud of them for coming in here today and gutting this one out. Fifth place as a goal now is not a real selling point for them.”
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