The West Liberty volleyball team put a cap on their regular season action last week with a matchup against Durant and a tournament at Cedar Rapids Jefferson.
The Comets tallied three wins and a pair of losses, including their conference finale against Durant and moved to 26-10 ahead of conference and regional tournament play.
Thursday, the Comets headed to Durant to end their conference slate.
The Wildcats bested the Comets earlier in the season, with conference tournament seeding on the line the Comets looked to flip the result.
The Comets grabbed an advantage in the first set, as they were able to pull away from the Wildcats in a set that looked closer on paper than on the court, grabbing a 25-17 victory.
West Liberty dominated the second set, holding their hosts to nine points as the Comets cruised 25-9.
The Wildcats weren’t going to go down without a fight as the battled the Comets in the third set, but weren’t able to muster enough to force a fourth set, as the Comets prevailed in a sweep in a 25-20 score in the third set.
Ava Morrison has grown into her role as the Comets setter throughout the season, tallying 15 assists in the victory. On top of her assists, Morrison also tallied seven kills and was joined by Sophie Buysse and Kaylee Pelzer at the top of the column.
Buysse led the team with 21 kills to complete her night on the court.
On Saturday, the Comets headed to Cedar Rapids Jefferson for the Westside Invitation. The Comets have become a fixture at the annual end of year event and looked to cap their season strong.
Starting their day off against Iowa City Liberty, the Comets took a pair of close victories, 21-19 and 21-18, to collect the sweep in their first match of pool play.
The Comets fell in their second match to Dowling Catholic, but remained competitive with the top team in 5A, falling 21-18 and 21-15.
West Liberty dominated the first set against Waterloo East to finish up pool play, winning 21-2. The second set was a closer result but it wouldn’t stop the Comets from collecting the sweep and moving onto bracket play as the second seed.
In the first round, the Comets matched up against Mount Vernon. The Mustangs are the second ranked team in class 3A and the top seed in the Comets regional bracket, providing an early test for what the regional final may have in store.
The Comets battled back and forth with the opponents, but it was the Mustangs who rode to victory in back-to-back 25-22 set wins.
Tuesday Update: Comets Win RVC-South Tournament
West Liberty decided four wins this week were not enough — they added three more and a RVC-South conference tournament championship on top of it Monday night.
Entering the competition as the No. 3 seed, the Comets knocked out West Branch (21-14, 11-21, 17-15), the hosts from Mid-Prairie in an epic battle (25-23, 30-28) and top-seeded Iowa City Regina in the championship match (25-16, 22-25, 15-6).
This provides much needed momentum for the Comets as they prepare for a regional quarterfinal match on October 17 against Grinnell and a potential semifinal matchup against Anamosa or Camanche.