Sports : Union girls eye State Volleyball Championship

Union seniors hold the State VB Qualifier banner; they play their first game at State on Wednesday. After breezing through three opponents in their Class 3A region, the Union Knights are looking forward to facing the tough competition that awaits this week at the State Volleyball Tournament in Cedar Rapids. The top-seeded Knights begin their tournament play at 10 a.m. Wednesday on Court One at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, where they will play Osage. If they win that match, they will play again on Thursday at 2 p.m. against the Mount Vernon/Sioux Center winner. Mount Vernon is the only Class 3A team to defeat Union this year; the Mustangs defeated the Knights 25-16 and 25-20 at the Waverly-Shell Rock tournament on Oct. 1. Union's only other losses were to Class 5A teams Ankeny Centennial and Linn-Mar. The Knights hope to advance to the Class 3A Championship on Friday at 2:30 p.m. The other four teams in the Class 3A bracket are Dike-New Hartford, North Polk,Kuemper Catholic of Caroll and Davenport Assumption. Union senior Megan Hudson, a four-year varsity starter, says the Knights are confident heading into the tournament. "It's obviously super exciting being a senior and being apart of this well-rounded team that's making a trip back to the state tournament," says Hudson. "We definitely know that if we play our game we can make it to the finals and get that state title. We're definitely prepared and can't wait to play and it's exciting, too, to be against more well matched teams and be able to play high-level volleyball." The Knights made it to State in 2014, but lost to Center Point-Urbana in the regional finals last year. "This overall feeling is just great for me, being a four-year varsity starter. I remember how it felt to be at state our Freshman and Sophomore years. Falling short last year just makes us want it more and having six seniors gives us that extra heart to just give it our all," says Hudson. "And that energy definitely rubs off on the other players. We just need to play our game and keep it together and if we do that I believe we can be State Champions." Other seniors ending their Union careers this week include Jackie Barz, Bri Harvey, Maggie Driscol, Peyton Parker and Cierra Nolan. During its Regional matches, Union won its nine games -- the minimum -- by a combined score of 225-80.