The Kennedy Volleyball team is one step closer to making the state tournament for the fourth straight year. Last night the Cougar girls defeated Cedar Rapids Xavier in a dominant 3-0 victory.

“The game went well. We had a game plan and had scouted Xavier a couple times and the girls did a nice job with the scouting report and transferring it to the live action,” coach Michelle Goodall said. “They took care of business.”

It was a tough matchup with both teams having made the state tournament last year, but the Cougars advanced to face Bettendorf in the sub-state finals.  It will be a difficult obstacle for the Cougars as the teams played a close match during a preseason team camp. The Cougars won that match up, but Goodall believes that it will be a “knock down drag out.”

Team members are motivated to win the match. “This is really, really, really important. I don’t even know what I would do if we didn’t make it to state,” Allie Hutcheson, sr., said.

The last step to reach their ultimate goal, the state tournament, will be played next Wednesday night in Clarence.