The West Delaware Hawks volleyball team just came up short of a perfect 50-0 season with their loss in the Class 3A State Championship game to Sioux City Heelan, 3 games to 2.

The Hawks had made an incredible run through the post season as they swept through Regional Tournament action to earn their third trip in the last four years to the State Tournament.

Although the quest for 50 wins did not become a reality the Hawks streak of 49 straight wins in a single season may be just as elusive for any other team as 50 wins.

The intensity with which a team must play to take down 49 straight opponents is something that we can only look at with total awe.

And make no mistake about it, this was a TEAM. They were led by a group of incredible seniors, some outstanding juniors and a pair of very talented sophomores.

They came together for the common good of the team and played with a style that nobody really ever solved.

At the State Tournament they would have to wait until the finals to meet a team that they had not played during the year.

Their first round opponent was the Bobcats from Western Dubuque. The Hawks had had three fairly close games with the Bobcats earlier in the year in Epworth.

The match at state was a different story as the Hawks dominated from the first whistle to the last point, winning by scores of 25-17, 25-14 and 25-17.

The Hawks never trailed in any of the three games with Western Dubuque.

In games one and two they steadily pulled away during the early stages and were never threatened.
In game three the Bobcats kept the game close through much of the first 20 points.

With the Hawks leading 11-9 they went on a run that moved the score to 21-12 before winning by a final score of 25-17 to move into the semi-finals against another WaMaC Conference opponent.

Match stats
vs. Western Dubuque
Kills - Katie Murphy 2, Katie Wessels 17, Tess Reinig 2, Lindsey McDowell 7, Emily Havertape 1, Emily Heffernen 13, Nicole Neverman 3; assists - Katie Murphy 34, Katlyn Heiserman 1, Tess Wegner 1, Nicole Neverman 4; serving - Katie Murphy 10/12 with 1 ace, Katlyn Heiserman 10-12, Katie Wessels 18-20 with 4 aces, Kayla Bries 5-5 with 1 ace, Tess Wegner 1-4, Lindsey McDowell 9-10 with 1 ace, Kaylin Kelchen 6-8; blocks - Katie Wessels 1, Lindsey McDowell 1, Emily Heffernen 2, Nicole Neverman 2; digs - Katie Murphy 8, Katlyn Heiserman 3, Katie Wessels 10, Kayla Bries 3, Tess Wegner 3, Lindsey McDowell 5, Emily Havertape 1, Kaylin Kelchen 6, Emily Heffernen 1, Nicole Neverman 1.

Next up for the Hawks would be a familiar opponent, the Indians of Marion.

The Hawks and the Indians had squared off three previous times during the regular season with Marion able to take a pair of individual games from the Hawks.

The Indians got off to a quick start and had an early 7-4 lead before the Hawks went on a 14-5 run to take an 18-12 lead in game one.

Marion slowly worked their way back into the game and won 25-23 to take a 1-0 lead.

The Indian court side celebration only lasted the three minutes between games as the Hawks came out in game two and raced to a 9-1 lead before Marion knew what hit them.

The Hawks polished off the Indians 25-13 to tie the match at 1-1.

Game three was a bit closer but the Hawks remained in control all the way through, winning by a final score of 25-21.

Game three was no contest as the Hawks raced out to another 9-2 lead early before ending the match, 3 games to 1 with a 25-16 win.

The Hawks dominated the Indians in every statistical category to earn a date in the finals while raising their season record to 49-0.

Game stats
vs. Marion
Kills - Katie Murphy 1, Katie Wessels 15, Tess Reinig 3, Lindsey mcDowell 16, Emily Havertape 5, Emily Heffernen 16, Nicole Neverman 4; assists - Katie Murphy 51, Katie Wessels 2, Lindsey McDowell 1, Kaylin Kelchen 1, Nicole Neverman 1; serving - Katie Murphy 15-16 with 2 aces, Katlyn Heiserman 21-21, Katie Wessels 17-19 with 5 aces, Kayla Bries 4-5, Tess Wegner 6-7, Lindsey McDowell 16-16 with 1 ace, Kaylin Kelchen 9-11 with 1 ace; blocks - Katie Murphy 1, Katie Wessels 2, Lindsey McDowell 2, Emily Havertape 1, Nicole Neverman 1; digs - Katie Murphy 9, Katlyn Heiserman 16, Katie Wessels 18, Kayla Bries 3, Tess Reinig 1, Tess Wegner 1, Lindsey McDowell 6, Emily Havertape 1, Kaylin Kelchen 6, Emily Heffernen 2, Nicole Neverman 1.

In the State Championship match the Hawks got off to a bit of a slow start in game one as they trailed 6-1 early.

They were down by a score of 10-3 when the took a time out. After the time out a kill by Emily Heffernen and an ace serve by Tess Wegner cut the Heelan lead to five points.

Heelan made a few errors coupled with a pair of ace serves by Lindsey McDowell gave the Hawks new life as they trailed by just two points, 12-10.

Following a Hawk error Emily Heffernen recorded a kill and Kaylin Kelchen served back to back aces to tie the game at 13-13.

The Hawks took a two point lead, 16-14 thanks to three straight kills by Class 3A All-Tournament Team Captain, Katie Wessels.

It was there that you could see the momentum switch as the Hawks went on a 9-3 run to close out game one, 25-17.

In game two the Hawks kept the momentum that they had built towards the middle of game one going.

Back to back kills by Tess Reinig and Katie Wessels gave the Hawks a 24-18 lead as they went on to win by a score of 25-19 and take a two games to none lead in the championship match.

The Hawks kept the momentum going in game three and looked to be in control with a 19-16 lead on a Katie Murphy kill.

It was then that momentum started to switch in Heelans direction.

They were able to dodge a match point at 24-23 to tie the score at 24-24 before winning their first game of the match 26-24.

Heelan kept that momentum going into game four just like the Hawks had done from the midway point of game one.

They kept the fast moving Hawk offense from hitting its stride during game for and won by a score of 25-18 to force a deciding game five.

The Hawks got their first lead of the game in game five when trailing 12-10 they rattled of three straight points.

Katie Wessels kill made it 12-11, she then severed an ace to knot the score at 12-12. Lindsey McDowells powerful kill gave the Hawks their first and only lead at 13-12.

Emily Heffernen knotted the score at 14-14 with her 18th kill of the championship match, however, Heelan scored the next two points to win by a final score of 16-14.

Statistically the Hawks dominated the match, leading in kills (61-51), assists (60-49), ace serves (12-6), digs (85-75) and match points (106-103) but were short in games, 3-2.

Although the last match did not end the way that the Hawks wanted it to they should be extremely proud of what they accomplished this season.

As previously mentioned their streak of 49 consecutive match wins during a single season will stand as the bar to reach for every volleyball team that takes to court for a long, long time.

To accomplish such an outstanding feat you have to be awfully good and have just a smattering of luck. Make no mistake about it this TEAM was awfully, awfully good.

In addition to having an outstanding team the fans from West Delaware were second to none, no matter who got the Sportsmanship Trophy.

The Hawk student body with their combination of cheers caught the attention of everyone in the Cellular Center. That student body and the hundreds and hundreds of other fans that cheered the Hawks on are the best in the state......bar none.

A pair of senior Hawks were rewarded for their outstanding play during the tournament by being named to the All-Tournament Team. A pair of Katies’, Murphy and Wessels were so honored for the Hawks, with Katie Wessels being named the Class 3A All-Tournament Team Captain.

Match stats
vs. Sioux City Heelan
Kills - Katie Murphy 4, Katie Wessels 23, Tess Reinig 3, Lindsey McDowell 11, Emily Havertape 1, Emily Heffernen 18, Nicole Neverman 1; assists - Katie Murphy 56, Katie Wessels 2, Kayla Bries 1, Emily Havertape 1; serving - Katie Murphy 10-12, Katlyn Heiserman 19-19, Katie Wessels 20-21 with 5 aces, Kayla Bries 12-12 with 1 ace, Tess Wegner 11-12 with 1 ace, Lindsey McDowell 16-16 with 2 aces, Kaylin Kelchen 10-13 with 3 aces; blocks - Katie Murphy 3, Katie Wessels 2, Lindsey McDowell 3, Emily heffernen 4, Nicole Neverman 3; digs - Katie Murphy 6, Katlyn Heiserman 34, Katie Wessels 19, Kayla Bries 2, Tess Wegner 4, Lindsey McDowell 6, Emily Havertape 1, Kaylin Kelchen 8, Emily Heffernen 4, Nicole Neverman 1.

Top 10 Tournament
Stat Leaders, Class 3A
Kill % - 1. Nicole Neverman .412, 5. Tess Reining .333, 6. Emily Heffernen .333, 9. Katie Wessels .260, 10. Emily Havertape .250; Kills - 1. Katie Wessels 55, 2, Emily Heffernen 47, 5. Lindsey McDowell 34; Service Aces - 1. Katie Wessels 14, 6. (tie) Lindsey McDowell 4, Kaylin Kelchen 4; Digs - 1. Katlyn Heiserman 53, 3. Katie Wessels 47, 9. Katie Murphy 23; Assists - 1. Katie Murphy 141; Assists per game - Katie Murphy 11.75, 2. Angie White of Dubuque Wahlert at 9.86.