T-R PHOTO BY STEPHEN KOENIGSFELD • Kylie Willis (5), Sydney Mathews (8) and Kyah Luhring (15) celebrate after winning one of the final points on Nov. 2 in the four-set win against No. 5 Tri-Center in West Des Moines. The unranked Spartans head back to the state tournament for the first time since 2014.

GRUNDY CENTER — In 1950, the Disney movie ‘Cinderella’ hit the theaters, unknowingly paving the way for one of the most lovable and inspiring phrases in sports jargon: A Cinderella Story.

Teams such as the 1969 ‘Miracle Mets’, the 1983 North Carolina State Wolfpack and the 2006 Wake Forest Demon Deacons cemented their names in history with improbably victories against favorable giants. So as the Grundy Center volleyball team paraded through the Class 2A Region 4 bracket, the Spartans, too, looked as if they were poised for one of the best Cinderella stories of the prep sporting season.

Not so fast.

“I would say we’ve never really felt like the underdog,” said outside hitter Kylie Willis. “We had confidence in our abilities and just went out and played. We won’t back down from a challenge. We know we have nothing to lose, so we can just come out swinging and playing our game.”

Of the 40 teams among all five classes at the state volleyball tournament this year, only one is unranked: Grundy Center.

Of its 16 losses, two were against unranked opponents. The Spartans did beat four ranked teams this year in Class 1A No. 6 Tripoli and Class 3A No. 9 Dyersville Beckman, before winning back to back wins against 2A No. 9 Woodward-Granger and No. 5 Tri-Center to get back to the state tournament for the first time since 2014.

“No, not for us it hasn’t,” said Grundy Center head coach Lori Willis, about if the season has ever felt like a Cinderella year. “Every time the rankings came out, we just said, ‘Welp, oh well.’ We just kind of chuckled and laughed because we knew how good we were and that we were on the verge.

“But we also knew our record is not pretty. We took a lot of lumps and bruises. We played so many ranked teams and we played highly ranked teams and out of our class so much. I think we only played down less than five games. And we did that on purpose because we knew that was going to make us better. We’re always striving to be better.”

The Spartans proved more in the postseason than any other time this year just how arbitrary the rankings can be and how deceiving they are. Grundy Center was never ranked this season, which was find by Lori and the Spartans.

“I wouldn’t say it feels like a Cinderella because we just chunked the season into three weeks at a time,” Lori said. “We asked ourselves every three weeks, ‘Are we better than the last weeks?’ and the answer just kept being yes. And that goes to show you the growth this team has and their ability to keep getting better.”

Maybe the best case for why the Spartans aren’t necessarily a Cinderella was the matchup with No. 5 Tri-Center. In the 12 main statistical categories, the Spartans led the Trojans (32-2) in seven of them (kills, kills per set, assists, digs, digs per set, solo blocks and blocks per set). The two teams were also tied for serve percentage at 92 percent.

So as the Spartans prepare for the No. 1 team in the state in Western Christian on Wednesday, they’ll look past the underdog story and set out to just enjoying the moment of being at the state tournament.  But Lori mentioned the fact even the Bible’s story of David and Goliath is one of the longest-told ‘Cinderella stories’ out there, and revisiting it might prove to have a sentimental meaning Wednesday.

“I thought about opening up the Bible just to go over it again,” Lori said. “I do feel like that. We are the only unranked team going into [the state tournament] and Western Christian is the No. 1 ranked team. They’re the defending state champions, they’re tall, they’re big. But we’re young and that is the story of David and Goliath right there. We have so much faith and so much fight. They’ve shown that week after week after week that they’ve been able to shine bright for the past two weeks with that faith.”

The Spartans take the court at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the U.S. Cellular Arena in Cedar Rapids.

Iowa Girls High School State Volleyball Tournament

At U.S. Cellular Center, Cedar Rapids

Quarterfinal Pairings

CLASS 5A

Tuesday, Nov. 8

Cedar Falls (38-3) vs. Dowling Catholic (27-15), Noon

Linn-Mar (33-8) vs. Ankeny (37-5), 2 p.m.

Ankeny Centennial (32-3) vs. Iowa City West (23-14), Noon

Valley (40-4) vs. Dubuque Hempstead (23-10), 2 p.m.

CLASS 4A

Tuesday, Nov. 8

Pella (36-4) vs. Nevada (29-13), 4 p.m.

Bishop Heelan (34-8) vs. Charles City (37-5), 6 p.m.

Dubuque Wahlert (25-6) vs. Council Bluffs Lewis Central (30-8), 4 p.m.

Marion (34-9) vs. Cedar Rapids Xavier (31-9), 6 p.m.

CLASS 3A

Wednesday, Nov. 9

Union (38-4) vs. Osage (23-11), 10 a.m.

Mount Vernon (33-7) vs. Sioux Center (34-4), Noon

Dike-New Hartford (45-5) vs. North Polk (37-9), 10 a.m.

Kuemper Catholic (28-1) vs. Davenport Assumption (28-8), Noon

CLASS 2A

Wednesday, Nov. 9

Western Christian (38-6) vs. Grundy Center (25-16), 2 p.m.

Central Lyon (30-4) vs. Council Bluffs St. Albert (26-4), 4 p.m.

Unity Christian (34-4) vs. Mediapolis (33-7), 2 p.m.

Sumner-Fredericksburg (33-5) vs. Waterloo Columbus Catholic (27-13), 4 p.m.

CLASS 1A

Wednesday, Nov. 9

Janesville (32-8) vs. Starmont (32-8), 6 p.m.

Holy Trinity Catholic (35-3) vs. Sidney (33-3), 8 p.m.

Hudson (33-4) vs. Lawton-Bronson (33-7), 6 p.m.

Springville (28-7) vs. Audubon (27-6), 8 p.m.