T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER - Grundy Center volleyball’s five seniors will end their high school careers at the state tournament. Pictured are: front row (from left) Lucy Lebo and Blessing Edittu; back row: Ellery Luhring, Carlie Willis and Shirley Monaghan.

GRUNDY CENTER — Grundy Center volleyball makes its first trip to state since 2019 as the third seed in today’s quarterfinal with sixth-seeded Carroll Kuemper at 4:25 p.m. at the Xtream Arena in Coralville.

Waking up as state qualifiers the day after the Spartans’ regional final sweep of West Burlington last week was a little surreal, especially for Grundy Center’s five seniors.

“It felt like a fever dream a little bit,” said libero Lucy Lebo. “But it was very exciting.”

Lebo, Ellery Luhring, Carlie Willis, Blessing Edittu and Shirley Monaghan have come close before on previous Spartan teams — a mixture of experience and a sense of urgency as seniors pushed them forward this fall.

“We’ve been playing volleyball together for years, and we knew this would be our last season together,” Monaghan said. “We were determined, we had a lot of returners, and we just knew we had to step up.”

Willis averages six kills per set as the state leader in kills heading into the tournament. Monaghan puts down 2.6 kills per set, and juniors Kayden Muller and Paige Venenga provide extra options for setter Ellery Luhring, averaging 9.2 assists per set and not afraid to take a swing or dump a kill at opposing defenses herself.

“We have a lot of firepower,” Grundy Center head coach Lori Willis said. “We hit the ball really hard, we hit it at a high contact point and we have a fantastic setter who can deliver the ball and be offensive as well.”

However, that was the case last year, too, when Grundy Center dropped a four-setter regional final to Denver.

What elevates this team is defense; Lebo leads the way at 2.8 digs per set but Luhring, Willis and Monaghan are just as productive in the back row as in the front and Edittu has stepped up with 1.2 digs per set as one of the team’s top defensive specialists.

“Our defense has really stepped it up,” Lori Willis said. “It’s hard to score on us, we really pursue the ball. And our serve receive has come a long way, we’re a lot better there.”

Kuemper (34-6) makes its second-consecutive trip to state this week after bowing out to Dike-New Hartford in the quarterfinals last year.

The Knights returned four of its five top attackers from last year’s team, resulting in a balanced offense, with three Knights averaging around two kills per set each.

Kuemper was third in the Hawkeye Ten conference behind 4A state qualifier Lewis Central and Glenwood and, like Grundy Center, swept their way to the state tournament, including a 3-0 win over Ridge View in the regional final.

“A really balanced team, and pretty tall as well,” Lori Willis said. “Their schedule isn’t as tough as ours, so I feel like we have the edge there, but they play the game well.”

Lori feels an elevated sense of desire from the Spartans, the hunger of proving they belong, at long last.

“I want to bring energy to every single point,” Carlie Willis added. “Make sure that my passing is on point and making sure I’m being as encouraging as possible, and then just hitting the ball hard like I normally do.”

The winner of Tuesday’s match will face either Hinton or Aplington-Parkersburg in Wednesday’s semifinals. Top-ranked, undefeated Dike-New Hartford (47-0) opens the tournament against Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont.

“Not saying that we weren’t determined last year, but we’re very determined,” Edittu said. “If a play doesn’t go our way, we know we’ve got the next one. We know what’s gonna happen, how to execute, and that’s something we do a really good job at.”

Iowa Girls High School State Volleyball Tournament

At Xtream Arena, Coralville

CLASS 2A

Quarterfinals

Tuesday, Oct. 31

No. 1 Dike-New Hartford (47-0) vs. No. 8 Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont (26-7), 2 p.m.

No. 2 Hinton (30-1) vs. No. 7 Aplington-Parkersburg (34-8), 2:25 p.m.

No. 4 Denver (34-10) vs. No. 5 Sumner-Fredericksburg (28-13), 4 p.m.

No. 3 Grundy Center (37-7) vs. No. 6 Carroll Kuemper (34-6), 4:25 p.m.