In Greek Mythology, the Fates are three goddesses named Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos who determine the destiny of humans.

In reality, those names are Kopriva, DeBoef and Gorder.

Call it a knockoff from legendary sportswriter Grantland Rice, but in fact North Tama’s trio of hitters determined the fate of Gehlen Catholic in the Redhawk volleyball team’s an upset sweep over the fourth-seeded team in the Class 1A state tournament.

Katie Kopriva, Abby DeBoef and Carlie Gorder accounted for 34 of the Redhawks’ 40 kills.

T-R PHOTO BY ANDREW ABADIE - North Tama volleyball players (from left) Dylan Rohlfsen, Abby DeBoef, Carlie Gorder, Aubree Monat, Katie Kopriva and Isabel Sierra celebrate the final point of the Redhawks’ three-set sweep of Gehlen Catholic on Wednesday night at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids. North Tama knocked off the higher-seeded Jays, 25-20, 25-22, 26-24, to advance to Thursday’s Class 1A state semifinals.

Their combined effort gave North Tama its first state tournament win in school history.

Fifth-seeded North Tama (27-6) won its match over Gehlen Catholic, 25-20, 25-22, 26-24.

“We came in with a lot of confidence,” North Tama head coach Channing Halstead said. “Our experience from the disappointment of last year to be down here two years ago coming out today, that definitely played dividends. The girls have had a whole different mentality in just this past week in practice and today coming down here.”

In the first set, North Tama tallied a .375 kill percentage that helped the Redhawks jump to an 18-10 lead and open with a first set win. At the helm of the offense was Gorder and Kopriva, who were a one-two punch early on.

“Our communication I think right away [helped the first set],” Kopriva, who had a team-leading 13 kills, said. “We had that confidence coming out right away and I think that’s what was the difference between us and Catholic was that we just build that confidence off each other.

T-R PHOTO BY ANDREW ABADIE - North Tama senior Katie Kopriva (10) goes up for the attack against Gehlen Catholic defender Rachel Langel (11) during Wednesday’s state volleyball quarterfinal match.

“Our passing was really good that first set. If our passing is on, [setter Isabel Sierra] doesn’t have to move as far and that gets our hitters clicking and our setters clicking together too.”

In Set 2, North Tama and the Jays were tied 10-10 after Gehlen Catholic answered with a 5-1 run. North Tama found separation with a 6-2 run to take a 19-14 lead. The Jays again answered with a 5-0 run and tied the set at 21-21. However, the Redhawks held momentum and closed the set with a 4-1 run.

“I think they kind of switched their game mode to they were just going to try and serve hard and they were going to try and throw us out of system and they did,” Halstead said. “I also felt like in those runs, this what we talked about in those timeouts, we were giving them the points. I felt like we weren’t controlling our side of the net so once we controlled our side of the net we were OK.”

In the final set, Gehlen Catholic held its largest lead of the night at 14-11. It was at that point DeBoef made her presence know as she totaled 11 kills with the majority coming late in the match.

“When [Gehlen Catholic] was standing in front of Katie waiting for her to get the ball [I told] Abby ‘You are going to get the ball and you are going to score’ and she did,” Halstead said. “Abby hasn’t been healthy a lot of the season and she has finally been healthy.

T-R PHOTO BY ANDREW ABADIE

“When Abby is going up there and getting kills when Gorder is up there getting kills it takes so much pressure off of [Katie] and she’s OK with that. [Gehlen Catholic] was literally releasing to her and standing in front of her. We knew that their middles were going to be tough. We made some adjustments with their middles with taking away the right back and we literally started on the other side of them. We took that away, that way we could pass the ball and use [Katie] more so when we are scrambling we can necessarily use her more.”

For Gorder, who had 10 kills on the night, the win was a culmination of all the experience she and her team had gone through.

“[The win is] huge because coming in our sophomore year we were just here,” Gorder said. “But now that we are here in our senior year we wanted to get somewhere and we got to the next round and we want to win again all the way.”

According to Kopriva, the win is a statement for the program.

“[I’m] very excited for our team, our program and our community,” she said. “I think this is kind of building an expectation for our program and that for our younger players that they will come up and step up once us seniors are gone knowing that we are a state team.”

North Tama will face top-seeded Sidney (36-8) in the state semifinals tonight at 6 p.m. at the U.S. Cellular Center.

“We knew coming in tonight if we played good tonight we had a shot,” Halstead said. “I’m going to sound arrogant when I say this and I’m not but if we play like that, we are going to be tough to beat down the road no matter who we are playing. We just have to make sure we maintain our energy.”

Iowa Girls State Volleyball Tournament

At U.S. Cellular Center, Cedar Rapids

CLASS 1A

Quarterfinals

Wednesday, Nov. 13

Sidney def. Springville, 25-15, 25-17, 25-11

North Tama def. Le Mars Gehlen Catholic, 25-20, 25-22, 26-24

Holy Trinity Catholic def. Council Bluffs St. Albert, 25-16, 25-23, 19-25, 25-15

Wapsie Valley def. Janesville, 25-23, 25-19, 16-25, 25-14

Semifinals

Thursday, Nov. 14

No. 1 Sidney (36-8) vs. No. 5 North Tama (27-6), 6 p.m.

No. 7 Holy Trinity Catholic (29-10) vs. No. 6 Wapsie Valley (24-15), 6 p.m.

Championship

Friday, Nov. 15

Semifinal winners, 7 p.m.

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