The Cedar Rapids Prairie volleyball team lived dangerously at the Linn-Mar tournament Saturday but had the last laugh.

The Hawks whipped Linn-Mar, 21-14, 21-12, in the championship match after surviving several near-misses in the earlier rounds.

Prairie lost games against Vinton-Shellsburg and Pleasant Valley in pool competition, but pulled things together and won both of those matches 2-1.

The Hawks also lost a game to Solon in the semifinals before snaring a 21-14, 9-21, 15-9 victory to reach the finals.

Prairie finished the tournament with a perfect 6-0 record.

There were lots of ups-and-downs in the annual tournament. Marion defeated Linn-Mar in pool play, but then the Lions defeated the Indians in the semifinals.

Marion High School does not beat Linn-Mar High School in too many sports, but volleyball has been an exception over the years. The Indians are currently ranked No.3 in Class 4A and Linn-Mar is ranked No.6 in Class 5A, so both schools have good teams.

"We just wanted to show them that Marion is still a powerhouse," Marion junior Alyssa Thomas said after the Indians topped the Lions in pool competition. "Even though we're not as big, we're still a good school and that we can put the ball down, too."

The Indians have gotten off to a good start this season, despite some injuries.

"It's crazy," said Thomas. "It's a dream, honestly. We're just working as hard as possible to try and get as high as we can, because we all want to end the season at the state championship."

Marion won a state volleyball title in 2008. Coach Roxanne Paulsen wants her players to set high goals, but warned the team needs to keep improving to be able to compete for the title.

"We have some work to do for that, but we have certainly tried to set our goals high this year," she said. "We think we have a solid team."

PRAIRIE RESULTS

Defeated Iowa City Regina, 21-16, 21-13
Defeated Vinton-Shellsburg, 15-21, 21-11, 15-12
Defeated Pleasant Valley, 14-21, 21-15, 15-9
Defeated Center Point-Urbana, 21-18, 21-14
Defeated Solon, 21-14, 9-21, 15-9
Defeated Linn-Mar, 21-14, 21-12

LINN-MAR RESULTS

Defeated Muscatine, 21-7, 21-4
Lost to Marion, 21-17, 21-18
Defeated Springville, 21-10, 21-9
Defeated Pleasant Valley, 21-14, 21-15
Defeated Marion, 12-21, 21-19, 15-10
Lost to Prairie, 21-14, 21-12

MARION RESULTS

Defeated Springville, 21-7, 21-13
Defeated Linn-Mar, 21-17, 21-18
Defeated Muscatine, 21-7, 21-7
Defeated Vinton-Shellsburg, 21-6, 21-14
Lost to Linn-Mar, 12-21 21-19, 15-10