Women of Troy Prove Too Much for City
City falls to West in the Battle for the Spike 3-1.
September 7, 2016
The City-West crosstown rivalry looks to always offer an emotional night. Tuesday night was no exception.
Iowa City’s annual Battle for the Spike was held in the West High gym.
West High came out with intensity. They downed the Little Hawks, easily winning 25-9.
“Obviously, you never wanna drop down six or seven points to anybody, and so we never really recovered in that first set,” City High Head Coach Craig Pitcher said. “They jumped on us and just pounded it at us in that first set.”
The Little Hawks came into the second set with a new mentality. They fought back against the Women of Troy. City was able to hang on to the lead and win the set 25-23.
“We just worked our tail off from whistle to whistle (in the second set),” Pitcher said. “We had some interesting plays, it’s some of those little breaks you get when you’re working your tail off.”
The Women of Troy answered City’s performance in set two with a quick start in the third set. Both teams were exhausted as the heat of the gym seemed to wear down on the girls. City called timeout to try to regain some momentum. It inched back to make it 14-10, resulting in growing cheers from the fans. The Little Hawks, managing to hold off the onslaught of West, went neck to neck with the Trojans after the quick start by their opponent. Finding themselves in crucial situations, City traded points with rival West. The long battle was capped off by two kills by West. The Women of Troy won set three 25-23.
The fourth set was much like the third, with the Little Hawks falling behind early, calling a timeout after falling down 6-0. The Little Hawks seemed dejected after battling back in the third set but falling in the end. Fans and players alike both seemed tired after two plus hours in the steamy gym. A quick timeout changed the momentum and The Little Hawks were able to climb back in the middle of the third set, but finally fell 25-21 allowing West to take the win, and keep the Spike for another year.
Emotions filled the gym. Among the chaos of West students flooding the floor, City volleyball players and students feel the defeat. Pure happiness is exerted from the Women of Troy while tears and hugs surrounded The Little Hawks.
“It’s never fun losing to them, all of our kids, there’s a couple goals you always want, and at the top of the list is always beating West,” Pitcher concluded. “Both sides come out strong in this match, it doesn’t matter if we’re both undefeated or defeated.”
