CEDAR RAPIDS - If Dike-New Hartford's setter Jenny Willms was taking the ACT's Thursday night she would have scored a 36. There wasn't a bad decision to be made.

From hitting Heather Rekers on a back slide to sending it outside to terminators Hannah Willms and Jennah Smith, the options were endless for the Wolverines in first round of the Class 2A state volleyball tournament at the U.S. Cellular Center.

Jenny Willms dished out 26 assists and Dike-New Hartford hammered home 37 kills in a quick 25-13, 25-11, 25-20 sweep over Waterloo Columbus.

"A lot of times you read the defense and what they give you, you go with," Jenny Willms said. "When all of our hitters are on fire, it's really up to wherever you want to go and they'll put it down.

"We have a lot of great weapons and they all do a great job of running what they're supposed to run. That really keeps other teams off balance. They can't key in on one specific player and it makes us hard to figure out."

All-state junior outside hitter Hannah Willms led the Wolverines' attack with 11 kills on a .300 hitting efficiency. The Iowa State recruit receiving support from Rekers who finished with nine kills and hit at an .818 efficiency. Smith, a spring-loaded 5-7 senior outside hitter, added seven kills when Willms was in the back row.

As Waterloo Columbus found out, the Wolverines' attack is unforgiving and capable of exploiting any opening. The Sailors' service receive was out of sync early and they were unable to recover until it was too late.

"We started off kind of shaky and nervous, and I think that kind of set the pace a little bit," Columbus head coach Laura Rowen said. "I think the serve receive kind of put a dent in things. We go in and we drill serve receive every day. … I think that was the whole momentum killer for us."

Leading 12-10 in the first set, Ashley Beninga rolled off three consecutive aces during a five-point service run. Hannah Willms added a pair of blocks and heavy handed kills for the Wolverines who won 13 of the last 14 points.

"It was back and fourth, neither team was able to pull away and then Ashley came in and hit those three great serves," Dike-New Hartford coach Diane Harms said. "That gave us a little bit of a cushion and we just kept going from there."

Dike-New Hartford served at 91.8 percent compared to an 86.7 percent effort from Columbus. Beninga finished with four aces on 90 percent serving while Jenny Willms was a perfect 18-for-18 with two aces.

"We knew that they were going to be a hard-serving team and they have a lot of top-spin, but we have it right back," said Beninga. "(Coach Harms) told us if we went in there and served as aggressive as we can serve, then that could hold them back. … We focus a lot on our serving."

Columbus showed some fight in set three, but by then it was too late. Sailors' outside hitter Rachel Schaefer landed her match-high 12th kill to bring her team to within four points at 23-19.

A Columbus net violation, followed by Hannah Willms putting down a joust at the net ended the match.

"Game three was more positive than the other two games, but I think they're walking out a little disappointed. … I think we all are," Rowen said. "I think they thought they had a little more in them and you know maybe it will leave a bitter taste in their mouths for next year.

"I know these girls are hard workers and the ones coming back next year are going to work all-year round to get back and show people what we've got. Nobody thought we were going to make it here this year and look what we did. We've got a lot of big things in store for us."

The Wolverines will face IKM-Manning 6 p.m. tonight in the Class 2A semifinals.

Contact Nick Petaros at (319) 291-1428 or nick.petaros@wcfcourier.com