WEST LIBERTY, Iowa The West Liberty High School volleyball team had to battle itself Thursday night.

The Comets were good enough against Mid-Prairie to overcome their own mental errors and deal with a feisty Golden Hawks squad as West Liberty earned a straight-set sweep in a Class 3A Region 8 semifinal at West Liberty High School.

West Liberty won 25-21, 25-17, 25-12. The 3A No. 7 Comets will face 3A No. 9 Mediapolis on Tuesday, Nov. 4, at Muscatine High School for a berth in the 3A state tournament.

Hailey Daufeldt led the Comets (35-5) with 15 kills and Audra Bridenstine added 13 for a West Liberty team that struggled at times in the first two sets.

"We were kinda lacking on defense," Bridenstine said. "We weren't getting the tips and we weren't reading [Mid-Prairie's] hits, mainly us just making stupid mistakes."

Mid-Prairie, who had already played West Liberty twice this season, took advantage of the Comets' mistakes with a nothing-to-lose attitude, staying aggressive at the net and digging up a lot of hard West Liberty attacks.

"We knew that if we could play with our best defense, that would save us and that's what held us in there tonight," Mid-Prairie coach Cindy Miller said.

The Golden Hawks (14-17) trailed by as little as 20-19 in the first set before the Comets pulled away with a quick 5-2 run. Mid-Prairie would break West Liberty's set point twice but fell too far behind when the Comets went on a 7-0 run to start that second set.

After giving up three quick points to Mid-Prairie to start the third set on two net violations and a hitting error, the Comets started moving much better offensively, with Daufeldt and Bridenstine cranking out attacks from Cassedi Simon, who had 36 assists on Thursday.

"Our intensity was better [in the third set] and we just communicated better," Bridenstine said, admitting "we've dropped down a little bit from the beginning of the season, but I feel like we're coming back."

Link:

Comets overpower early mental errors in sweep, advance to regional final