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The Iola Lady Bulldogs volleyball team is no stranger to this stage or this arena. For the second straight year, and the third time in the past five years, Iola is in the Class A state semifinals.
The Lady Bulldogs face Kopperl (38-5) at 11 a.m. Friday at Strahan Coliseum in San Marcos.
It's the fifth time the school has made the state tournament. The unlucky part for the Lady Bulldogs is every previous trip matched them up with the soon-to-be state champions in the semifinal game.
Last season, Iola lost to Collinsville, which went on to beat Windhorst for the state title, but the experience has the Lady Bulldogs more prepared for this year's game.
"Last year, the atmosphere [at state] scared us," Iola head coach Jamie McDougald said. "But many of our players experienced that, and this year, we have a lot more big-game situations under our belt."
Iola's play in the second half of the season has been even more unlucky for its opponents. Iola (35-3) only dropped two of its past 25 matches and both were to Class 2A teams in Leon and Centerville, who is playing in another state semifinal game Thursday. The only other team to even win a game against the Lady Bulldogs over that stretch was Normangee in the regional championship.
It's quite an accomplishment for a team that lost four seniors and boasts none this season, but a solid crop of juniors fills in the leadership gap.
"They have done a good job," McDougald said. "The rest of our team are three sophomores and a freshman, and the upperclassmen have gotten them ready to play, encouraging them and teaching them how to play the game right."
The Lady Bulldogs are led by junior middle blockers Shelby Bishop and Mercedes Alafa, who lead a hard-hitting Iola attack each night. Junior Sabrina Bookman and sophomore Ashley Brown have also been key for Iola throughout the season, but junior Hannah Pointer was the one who earned her coaches' praise.
"Hannah has been so key for us as our setter," McDougald said. "She's really come on as a hitter lately, saving her best games for the last [part of the season]."
The Iola-Kopperl winner will face the Windhorst-Flatonia winner Saturday at 9 a.m.
