MUSCATINE West Liberty had the smallest enrollment of the eight schools competing at Muscatine's volleyball tournament Saturday.

The Comets were the last ones standing.

After sweeping Muscatine, Burlington and Class 4A 14th-ranked Central DeWitt in pool play, West Liberty silenced North Scott in the semifinals and outlasted Clinton in the championship match, 25-16, 20-25, 15-11.

"We don't really realize who we're beating at the time," senior libero and Iowa recruit Molly Kelly said. "Afterward, our coaches will tell us they're ranked or had this kind of record.

"It just shows we look at every single competitor the same. We have respect, but we want to beat them."

So far, Class 3A ninth-ranked West Liberty has conquered every opponent.

The Comets (11-0) have won 23 of their 24 contested sets. Nine of their 11 match victories are against 4A and 5A programs.

"If you look at our schedule, that is our schedule," said coach Ruben Galvan, whose team still has weekend tournaments at Western Dubuque and Cedar Rapids Jefferson. "We don't go to many tournaments with teams in our class or lower. That makes us better in the long run."

West Liberty doesn't have a player taller than 5-foot-8, but it compensates for that with a scrappy back row, a talented setter in Cassedi Simon and a nice trio of front row attackers in Hailey Daufeldt, Kayla Kaalberg and Audra Bridenstine.

Daufeldt had 13 kills and Kelly recorded 24 digs in the finals match.

See the rest here:

Comets down River Queens in Muscatine finale