Iowa High School Volleyball

We’ve got one last class to cover with our thoughts and predictions, here’s 1A: Saint Ansgar (28-4) vs East Mills (33-4): Saint Ansgar returns to State for the third straight year, after losing in the quarterfinals each of the past two seasons. The Saints come to Coralville as the #1 seed after moving into the top spot of the ratings midseason. They rank 3rd in kills per set at 11.3 and 3rd in hitting efficiency at .276. They have the 6th rated strength of schedule in 1A. SR MH Lindsay Kruse leads 1A in hitting efficiency at .541. East Mills goes to Coralville as the #8 seed after beating St. Albert in the region 6 final, avenging a loss from 2 years ago, also in the regional final. The Wolverines have the lowest rated strength of schedule out of the 8 1A qualifiers, ranking 80th overall in 1A. We see this as a tough matchup for East Mills and like Saint Ansgar to advance. Dunkerton (29-11) vs BCLUW (36-8): this should be a really exciting quarterfinal matchup of two high-powered offenses. Dunkerton qualified for state by beating Holy Trinity Catholic in a reverse sweep, winning 15-11 in the 5th. Dunkerton comes to Coralville with the top 1A ranking in kills per set (11.9) and hitting efficiency (.364). BCLUW ranks 5th in kills per set (10.9) and 4th in hitting efficiency (.247). Dunkerton JR MH Taylor Kipp leads 1A in blocks with 150 and ranks 4th in hitting efficiency at .434, while sister Hailey Kipp ranks 3rd in blocks with 98. BCLUW qualified for state by beating the three time defending champions Ankeny Christian (3-1), with the Comets getting to Coralville for the 3rd straight season. The duo of SR OH Grace Farnsworth and JR OH Olivia Peters are a formidable pair, and the Comets are 1 of only 2 teams in 1A with two players exceeding 300 kills. This will be the 4th matchup of the season, that saw BCLUW winning the first and Dunkerton winning the last two. We’ll take Dunkerton in a five set battle. Janesville (31-11) vs Gladbrook-Reinbeck (27-13): Janesville, a perennial power in 1A, qualified for state for the 2nd straight season, losing to BCLUW in the semifinals last year. They come in as the #2 seed after sweeping through region 5. The Wildcats have the 3rd ranked strength of schedule in 1A and are ranked 7th in kills per set at 10.5. After qualifying for state three straight seasons between 2020-2022, Gladbrook is back at state after coming up short the last two seasons. The Rebels have played the 7th toughest strength of schedule in 1A and are led by SR MH Kennedy Brant, who ranks 2nd in blocks (107) and 9th in kills (391). The two setters in this match rank 2nd and 3rd respectively in assists in 1A, as JR Tayah Pollock has 872 for Janesville and JR Kailey Larsen has 840 for Gladbrook. We were surprised to see that these two schools, separated by only 30 miles, haven’t played each other since 2019. We like Janesville to advance in a match that should be a lot closer than the seeding would suggest. North Tama (28-13) vs Sidney (22-9): North Tama qualified for state for the 4th time in the last 5 years, after sweeping through region 3. The Redhawks had the 5th toughest strength of schedule in 1A and are led by SR OH Kruiz Ewoldt, who ranks 7th in 1A in kills with 396. SR L Addison Hochstetler leads 1A in service aces with 105. Sidney entered postseason play losing 3 of their last 4 matches, but the Cowgirls were able to qualify after beating Remsen St. Mary’s 3-1 in the region 4 final. Sydney has the 2nd lowest strength of schedule out of the 8 tournament qualifiers, and ranks 37th in kills per set (8.8). This is only the 2nd meeting between these two schools, with Sydney winning the prior matchup in 2019 in the state semifinals, in route to the Cowgirls state championship that season. We like North Tama in this one. 1A is tough to predict this season… but we’ll take Dunkerton in upsets over Saint Ansgar and Janesville to win the title!

We’re super excited for State Tournament volleyball today!! We’ve got a couple of classes left to release our predictions for, and we’ve got 2A here: Denver (47-1) vs Wapsie Valley (24-17): the defending champion Denver Cyclones have been on quite a run, with this season being their sixth straight having won more than 35 matches. They have a very talented senior class, led by SR S Channing Johnson, who leads all classes in assist with 1,086. They come to Coralville ranked 2nd in kills per set (12.4), 2nd in hitting efficiency (.332) and have the 2nd rated strength of schedule in the class. Wapsie Valley advanced to state by upsetting and sweeping the top seed in region 6, Union. The Warriors have the distinction of losing the most games this season out of all of the qualifiers in any class. Denver has won 9 straight in this series dating back to 2019, and won 2-0 back in early September. Denver looks too strong in this one, we like the Cyclones to advance. Grundy Center (35-9) vs Beckman Catholic (32-7): after losing in the regional final a year ago, Grundy Center gets back to Coralville earning the overall #4 seed. The Spartans played the 3rd toughest schedule in 2A this year and rank 5th in kills per set (11.4). JR MH Ryanne Brubaker (6’8”) leads 2A in hitting efficiency at .482 and ranks 4th in kills with 425. Beckman Catholic is back at state after losing in the semifinals a year ago. They come to Coralville with one of the most balanced attacks in all classes, having five players with more than 150 kills. The Trailblazers rank 1st in 2A in kills per set (12.7) and 4th in hitting efficiency (.274). This one could come down to how well the undersized Trailblazers deal with Brubaker and whether or not they can keep Grundy Center out of system enough to limit her attacks. We’ll go with Beckman in a slight upset. Dike-New Hartford (38-9) vs Aplington-Parkersburg (28-10): Dike-New Hartford has been the model of consistency, having won 30 or more matches in 18 out of the last 19 seasons. They come to Coralville as the #2 seed, having played the toughest schedule in 2A and rank 4th in the class in kills per set (12.2). Six of their nine losses came to 5A schools with the other three losses coming against top ranked Denver. Aplington-Parkersburg advanced to state by upsetting #7 ranked Riverside, fighting off 2 match points to win set 5, 17-15. The Falcons program has made big strides recently, after not having a winning season from 2013-2019, to now having six straight winning seasons. These conference foes will matchup for the 2nd time this season, as DNH won 3-0 at home on September 30th, and have now won 23 straight in the series dating back to 2007. We’ll take Dike to advance in this one. Hinton (28-2) vs Regina Catholic (30-13): Hinton is back at state for the third time in the last four seasons. The Blackhawks lost only twice this season, to 5A Sioux City East and to 3A Unity Christian, but do come to Coralville with the lowest strength of schedule out of the eight class 2A qualifiers. They did record an impressive win over 4A #2 Sioux Center in mid-October. Hinton is led by SR OH Bailey Boeve who ranks 2nd in the class in hitting efficiency (.461). Hinton as a team ranks 1st in 2A in hitting efficiency (.361) and 3rd in kills per set at 12.2. Regina Catholic earned the #7 seed after beating Sumner- Fredericksburg in the region 8 final, while their 30 wins is the most in school history during the Bound era, dating back to 2008. The Regals are led by SR OH Reese Naeve who tops the state in kills with 701. This matchup is the 1st amongst these teams, at least in the Bound era. We are really looking forward to the two powerhouse OH’s battling it out. We like Hinton in a tight match. Ultimately, we like Denver, who after losing 27 straight matches in this series, has won 4 of the last 5, to take home the 2A title.

Continuing our state tournament predictions, with our picks in 3A: Western Christian (37-9) vs Mount Vernon (23-15): this is a rematch of the last two state championship finals, won in 2023 by Western Christian and last year by Mount Vernon. Incredibly, this is the Wolfpack‘s 25th straight year of advancing to the state tournament. Western Christian comes into this having been the #1 ranked team in 3A all season. They had the toughest strength of schedule in 3A, ranked 5th in kills per set at 11.7 and are 7th in hitting efficiency at .241. SR setter Maggie Van Schepen is 2nd in 3A in assists with 951. Mount Vernon’s win total of 23 is the fewest in a season for the program since 2011, but yet they still advanced to Coralville after sweeping Anamosa in the regional final. They played the 3rd toughest schedule in 3A and come to Coralville hitting to .234, 8th best in 3A. This will be a tough matchup for the Mustangs, we like Western Christian to advance. Cherokee (29-7) vs Humboldt (31-6): Cherokee earned the #4 seed after sweeping Van Meter in the regional final, while Humboldt got past Roland Story (3-1) to earn the #5 seed. Cherokee JR S/OH Addy Wolfswinkel leads 3A in ace serves with 70, while JR MH Deidra Doeden leads 3A in blocks (101). The Braves average 10.5 kills per set, which is the lowest in the 3A field, while they hit .269, which ranks 4th in 3A. Amazingly, Humboldt leads the overall series between these two schools, 18-1 with the only win by Cherokee coming in the last matchup back in 2021. The Wildcats have a very balanced attack, including four players with more than 160 kills and they rank 6th in 3A in kills per set at 11.6. We like Humboldt to advance in this one. Assumption (25-7) vs Mid-Prairie (30-9): Assumption comes to Coralville as the #2 seed after sweeping through region 2. Senior MH Ella Derrer ranks 1st in 3A in hitting efficiency at .466, and ranks 3rd in blocks with 92. The Knights have the 2nd rated strength of schedule and they lead 3A in kills per set at 12.0. Mid-Prairie advanced to Coralville for the 2nd straight season, and reached the 30 win mark for the third straight season. Senior S/OH Jovi Evans ranks 2nd in 3A in kills with 425. The Golden Hawks have the top hitting efficiency team in 3A at .300. Two high-powered offensive teams facing off in this quarterfinal matchup, we like Assumption to advance. Red Oak (38-2) vs Kuemper Catholic (31-2): this is our favorite quarterfinal match in 3A, and is a rematch from mid September that went five sets, which Red Oak won at Kuemper. The Tigers had one of the biggest record improvements in the state, winning 18 more matches than last year‘s team, so far. The Tigers rank 2nd in 3A in hitting efficiency (.295), third in kills per set (11.9) and are led by SR OH Jocelyn O’Neill who’s ranked 3rd in 3A in kills with 414. Kuemper Catholic comes to Coralville with four straight seasons of winning 30+ matches. The Knights got by Unity Christian in a five set battle to win region 6. They have the lowest rated strength of schedule of the 8 teams in the state tournament field, but they have a balanced offensive attack, hitting .257 as a team, ranking 6th in 3A. SR L Kaylie Simons leads 3A in digs with 606. We like Red Oak to prevail in what should be a fantastic matchup. Ultimately, we like Western Christian to win their 3rd championship in the last four years, beating Assumption in what would be an extremely exciting final.

Class 4A tournament predictions: Clear Creek Amana (41-3) vs Sergeant Bluff-Luton (19-12): so this one is very interesting, this is the matchup at state that a lot of us thought would happen, however, we thought it would be in the championship match. We had these two teams ranked preseason #1 and #2, as did the IGHSAU. The Clippers had the season we all expected, and come to Coralville looking to avenge last year‘s quarterfinal loss to Pella. Conversely, SBL lost five of their first 11 matches of the season and had to come from down two sets to one to Lewis Central in the regional final, ultimately winning 3 to 2. The Warriors could put all of that behind them with an upset over the Clippers in the quarterfinal. We don’t think it’s going to happen, we’ll take CCA. Dallas Center Grimes (26-11) vs North Scott (24-10): DCG comes into this match having won 7 of 9 matches and sweeping both of their regional contests. The Mustangs rank 2nd in 4A in kills per set (12.0) and 7th in hitting efficiency (.234). They also played the toughest schedule in 4A this year. North Scott has won 12 straight matches including a win at #1 ranked Clear Creek Amana, since losing twice to DCG on September 20. The Lady Lancer‘s are 5th in 4A in hitting efficiency (.239) and come into this one playing with a lot of confidence. We love this matchup, we’ve got DCG, but very close. Sioux Center (28-4) vs Marion (28-13): Sioux Center has had another great season (16th straight winning season), defeating defending champion Bishop Heelan in the regional final. The Warriors ranked 10th in 4A in hitting efficiency and come in with the number 23rd rank strength of schedule in 4A. Marion is the only 4A school advancing to Coralville that was not the #1 regional seed, but having jumped SBL in the final rankings, earned the #7 seed at state. The Wolves advanced to state by beating Solon in a five set thriller. They won the first two sets, lost sets three and four, then won the fifth 17 to 15. This came only 12 days after losing to Solon (0-2) on October 16. Marion ranks 4th in 4A in kills per set, but 14th in hitting efficiency (.196). Abbey Kirk ranked 2nd amongst freshmen (all classes) in kills with 383. This is the first time these teams will have faced off in the Bound era. We really like the balanced attack of Marion, but we’re going with the veteran Sioux Center squad to advance. Pella (31-10) vs Norwalk (29-11): Pella comes back to Coralville after getting beat in the championship a year ago to Bishop Heelan. They played the 3rd toughest schedule in 4A this year, they rank 5th in kills per set at 11.3, and 3rd in hitting efficiency (.244). The Dutch won the earlier matchup between these two teams back in early September, winning 3-0 at home. Norwalk qualifies for the state tournament for the first time in the Bound era, having beaten Ballard 3-0 in the regional final. The Warriors had the 2nd toughest strength of schedule in 4A and are led by sophomore Ella Hatlevig, who leads 4A in kills with 446. This should be a great quarterfinal matchup, but we’re going with the experienced Pella squad to advance. An interesting thing to note, 4A is the only class to have the top eight Bound power rated schools advanced to state. This is a difficult class to predict, as the teams are quite evenly matched. We think there’s a high likelihood of seeing multiple upsets, however, the balance of the Clear Creek Amana attack along with the senior leadership is tough to pick against. Nonetheless, we’re going with the upset and taking Dallas Center Grimes over Pella in the championship.

We’re releasing our thoughts and predictions for next week’s state tournament in Coralville. Starting with 5A: Waukee Northwest (35-1) vs Indianola (27-16): we commented a month ago, prior to the release of the regional pairings, that Indianola is not a team that the top seeds were going to want to see in their region. They proved that out with a thrilling five set comeback win over top seeded Waukee and advanced to Coralville as the only non-#1 regional seed to get there in 5A. Now they get rewarded with a matchup against #1 Waukee Northwest. The Wolves have had a nearly flawless season, with their only loss coming against Waukee back in the middle of September. They responded by not even giving up a set since, winning 43 straight. This one will be a tall task for the Indians, we’ll take Northwest. Dowling Catholic (18-11) vs Ankeny (27-8): Ankeny advanced to Coralville by sweeping through region 6, beating Cedar Rapids Kennedy in the final. The Hawks were one of the question marks in 5A this year after graduating 10 seniors, including multiple all state players from their 2024 squad. They had another great year earning the five seed and a match up with fellow CIML school Dowling Catholic. The Maroons finished the regular season with the schools fewest wins since 2008, but still managed to finish tied for 2nd in the CIML. Dowling won the only matchup between these teams this year 3-1 back in late September, at Dowling. These two schools are seemingly always in the state tournament, but haven’t matched up there since 2013. This one’s a toss-up, but we will go with the Hawks in what should be the best quarterfinal match in 5A. Ankeny Centennial (32-5) vs Iowa City West (27-5): another great year from the Jaguars, winning more than 30 matches for the fifth straight season, with four of their five losses coming against top ranked Waukee Northwest. Iowa City West was tested by Liberty in the regional final but have won 13 of their last 14, and are playing their best volleyball of the season, and having their first winning season since 2017. This one is a matchup of the senior-laden Jaguars against the younger Trojan squad. Centennial has five seniors playing key roles on the team while the key contributors for Iowa City West are all non-seniors. We like Centennial in what will be a tighter match than most think. Pleasant Valley (29-5) vs Valley (27-12): Pleasant Valley is back to defend their title from a year ago sweeping through region 3, and come to Coralville winning 17 of their last 18 matches. Valley comes into this matchup as the lower seed, but actually beat the Spartans in the only matchup of the season between these two teams, winning 2-0 September 13 at the Linn-Mar tournament. Another one that could go either way, but we’ll go with the defending champs in a highly competitive match. We like Waukee Northwest, who has clearly been the best team in the state all year, over Centennial in the final, for the 5th time this season.

3A, 4A and 5A State Tournament brackets are set!

A big night of regional final volleyball tonight in 2A & 1A! We’re highlighting some of the most intriguing matchups that we’ll be keeping an eye on. 2A Region 1: Cascade (18-12) @ Bellevue (16-10): these two matched up October 7th at Cascade and went 5 sets with Cascade taking it 18-16 in the 5th. SR OH Addison Frake of Cascade ranks 7th in 2A with 383 kills (.331), while Bellevue is led by SR OH Cydney Tath with 282 kills (.260). This one’s at Bellevue and could very likely go 5 sets again. 2A Region 4: ACGC (24-11) @ Woodward Granger (28-10): ACGC will get a 4th chance at conference rival Woodward Granger, after losing the three previous matches. JR OH Stella Largent (2nd in 2A in kills with 499) and SR S Becca Littler (8th in 2A in assists with 742) lead the Chargers, while the Hawks counter with a pair of sophomores in Alena Schaak (322 kills) and Calianna Fenceroy (224 kills) along with JR S Jill Jesse (650 assists). 2A Region 5: Hudson (27-11) @ Jesup (22-10): these teams have faced off twice already this season, with each team winning on their home court. This one will likely come down to whether or not Hudson can slow down the potent Jesup offense that ranks 3rd in 2A in hitting efficiency (.300). In Jesup’s earlier victory over Hudson they hit .396 and in the loss they hit .212. 1A Region 1: West Bend Mallard (22-5) @ Coon Rapids Bayard (24-2): two teams that have done a lot of winning this year. Coon Rapids SR OH Malia Clayberg leads the Crusaders and is 5th in 1A in kills with 409, while West Bend Mallard counters with a pair of SR’s in Allie Fehr (315 kills) and Addie Montag (267 kills). This one looks like a toss up. 1A Region 5: IKM Manning (28-8) @ West Monona (27-6): SR OH Brihanna Hill of West Monona ranks 4th in 1A in attacks with 1,015 (284 kills; .104) while SO Keagan Eischeid of IKM ranks 9th with 907 (342 kills; .202). SR S Karlee Arp of IKM is 4th in 1A in assists with 771. These teams look pretty evenly matched, similar records, similar strength of schedule, this should make for an interesting contest with the winner getting a likely matchup with Janesville in the regional final. 1A Region 8: Southeast Warren (38-6) @ Ankeny Christian (27-13): this matchup has the school with the most wins in 1A this year (SE Warren with 38) playing at the 3-time defending state champions, Ankeny Christian, whose won 31 straight at home. SR OH Lexi Clendenen of SE Warren is 6th in 1A in kills with 393, and she’ll need a good night and help from her teammates to upset the Eagles on their home court. The Eagles have extended their postseason win streak to an incredible, twenty in a row.

With the regional finals now set in 5A, 4A and 3A, we wanted to circle back and look at how our picks fared. Out of the 48 regional finalist over the three classes, we got 45 (93.8%) of them correct. We missed on Bettendorf over Dubuque Sr (impressive 3-0 sweep by the Rams), West Delaware over Anamosa (nice 3-1 win by the Blue Raiders) and we missed on Wahlert Catholic in an upset pick over Wilton (hard fought 3-2 win by the Beavers). In full disclosure, anyone could pick the host school (IGHSAU favorite) and do very well. In fact the favorite won 42 of the 48 matchups. We feel very good about the fact that we took 5 underdogs (away schools) and got 4 of them correct. We had Ames over Johnston, CR Kennedy over Waterloo West, Lewis Central over MOC Floyd Valley and Xavier over Grinnell, we got all of those correct and missed on the aforementioned Wahlert over Wilton. We’ll continue to track how our picks fare (2A & 1A regional finals will be set Monday night) and hold ourselves accountable if we miss the mark. We’ll have all 40 state qualifiers set next Wednesday. We’ve been analyzing the matchups next week and there’s going to be some very exciting volleyball. Can’t wait!!

Wow! Crazy five-setter in Burlington tonight!

Good luck to the Norwalk Warriors as they start regional play on Thursday, and congratulations to Jr Setter Hadley Michael on becoming the school’s career assist record holder! 2,200+ and counting.

Here are our final rankings of the 2025 season. Hard to believe we are here already, but postseason kicks off tonight. Looking forward to a fun couple weeks of regional action!

Wrapping up our regional predictions with 1A. We expect some chaos in this class, which will be fun to watch! We’ll have our final rankings out tomorrow morning, and we’ll see the final rankings from the IGHSAU sometime tomorrow. These will be the rankings that will form the basis for state tournament seeding. Best three weeks of the volleyball season, starting tomorrow!

Here are our thoughts and predictions for 3A and 2A regionals: We’ll get 1A out this weekend.

We’re looking forward to postseason play starting next week. Here’s a look at how we think 5A and 4A will play out. We’ll share our thoughts on the other three classes shortly.

Our final rankings prior to the IGHSAU release of the regional pairings, which should be out tomorrow afternoon. Regional action will start in less than 2 weeks.

We are continuing our look at schools that have surprised us so far this season, now with the 3A class: What an impressive start to the 2025 season from the Red Oak Tigers! Red Oak has a long history of having strong volleyball teams, so it’s pretty much a given to expect a winning season from the Tigers, but they are off to a 21-2 start and are a legitimate contender to win the championship. They have 11 wins over teams with a top 100 power rating, and their only 2 losses are to 4A’s #2 Sioux Center and #3 Pella. We had the Tigers significantly underrated in the preseason at #18, but currently have them at #3. Unity Christian is off to their best start since 2021, with a current record of 16-6. They have quality wins over Bishop Heelan and 2 wins over #9 MOC-Floyd Valley, including a 3 set sweep last night. We had the Knights preseason #19 and have them currently ranked #10. After 3 straight losing seasons from 2020-2022, Dubuque Wahlert is looking for their 3rd straight winning season this year, starting the year at 12-10. The Golden Eagles have impressive wins over 5A #12 Waterloo West, 4A #6 North Scott and 3A #9 Center Point Urbana. We have the Golden Eagles currently ranked #15 after starting the preseason at #24. 2A: We haven’t been surprised by much in 2A to this point, but we do want to highlight Woodward Granger. The Hawks haven’t had a winning season since 2019, but are looking to change that this year. They’ve started 14-7 and are on a 6 match win streak. They have wins over 5A Johnston and 4A #15 North Polk, along with a close loss to 4A #3 Pella. We had WG preseason #26 and have them currently at #14. 1A: We are going to highlight three teams in 1A starting with West Monona. The Spartans are on a path to have their best record since at least 2007, after starting the year 21-4. Nice wins include victories over 1A’s Kingsley Pearson (2x) and Remsen St Mary’s. The Spartans were barely on our radar preseason with a ranking of #38, but are currently ranked #11. Lake Mills has a rich history in volleyball, but is another team that has significantly outperformed our preseason expectations. We had the Bulldogs at preseason #39 but are currently at #12. Quality wins include a trio of victories over 3A schools, Algona, Des Moines Christian & Forest City. Burlington Notre Dame is the last team we’ll highlight in 1A. The Nikes are looking to get back to the state tournament for the first time since winning the championship in 2021. They are off to a 22-6 start, with nice wins over Wapello, Central Lee (2x) and Galesburg IL (2x). Three of their six losses have come against rival Holy Trinity Catholic (#2 in 1A). We had the Nikes preseason #23 and have them currently ranked #14. Looking forward to the release of the regional pairings next week and we’ll likely have some commentary to follow.

It’s time to recognize some teams that have surprised to the upside so far this season, starting today with 5A & 4A, and finishing tomorrow with the other three classes. 5A: We’ve got 3 teams to call out in 5A, starting with Dubuque Hempstead. The Mustangs have a record of 17-12, after going 16-17 last season. SR OH Kampbell Bryte has been dominant, leading 5A in kills (298) at the time of this writing. We had the Mustangs as preseason #26 and have them currently ranked #13. Next up is Indianola. The Indians went 38-13 last season, and graduated ELEVEN seniors. They are off to an 11-13 start to the season, with wins over 5A #4 Ankeny and 4A #4 Dallas Center Grimes. 1st year coach Jana McGraw has this squad playing well, and I wouldn’t want to see them in my regional when the pairings are released next week. Lastly in 5A is Southeast Polk. The Rams are currently 10-11, and looking for their first winning season since 2019. They have wins over 3A #5 Mid Prairie, 4A #15 North Polk and 5A #13 Indianola. We had SEP preseason #22 and currently ranked #15. 4A: We’re going to highlight 3 teams, starting with Waverly Shell Rock. After back to back losing seasons, the Go Hawks are 11-10 with impressive wins over 3A #6 Humboldt, 4A #6 North Scott and 4A #7 Solon. We had the Go Hawks preseason #23, and currently have them #13. Solon is 19-5 this season and is looking to get back to the state tournament for the first time since winning the championship in 2014. They have compiled some nice wins over 3A #10 West Delaware, 4A #10 Marion and 3A #8 Mount Vernon. We had the Spartans at preseason #16 and currently ranked #7. Lastly in 4A is Dallas Center Grimes. We had the Mustangs preseason #12, and currently have them #4. They have 2 players in the top ten in kills in 4A (JR OH Avery Edgington 7th with 213 & JR RS/MH Maggie Leifker 10th with 190), while JR S Gwen Farley leads 4A with 720 assists. Although DCG has lost their last 2 matches, against #1 Clear Creek Amana and #3 Pella, both in very competitive matches, we look for them to make a deep run in the post season. Look for 1A-3A tomorrow.

2/2 continued): Dunkerton’s worst loss is against Cedar Ridge Christian (power rating of 109) and Ankeny Christian’s worst loss is against Pella Christian (power rating 108). Ultimately, both Dunkerton and Ankeny Christian have better wins, better losses, and a stronger strength of schedule than Springville, but are ranked below them. We could provide other examples as well, but this post is already way too long. At the end of the day, we can’t make a logical case for that high of a ranking for Springville, based on current known information. And again, this isn’t an over ranking of 1, 2 or even 5 spots. We feel this is an over ranking of between 10-15 spots. I want to reiterate, this is not a commentary against Springville, they really have nothing to do with what we are arguing. The issue is with the IGHSAU, not Springville. This is either a simple miss by the IGHSAU or they are basing this ranking off of something other than the currently known information. We would love to have someone take the other side of this argument if we’re missing something, so feel free to let us know if you see it differently.

Knowing that we are getting close to post season play, we thought we’d take a look at the current rankings released yesterday by the IGHSAU. Before we do that, note that the regional pairings should be released next Wednesday the 8th, with next week’s rankings forming the basis for those pairings. Therefore, it’s important these rankings are as accurate as possible, using all known information (record, computer power ratings, strength of schedule, quality wins, etc.), to support those rankings/pairings, as a schools path to the state tournament is impacted. Note: we release our rankings each Wednesday morning, ahead of the IGHSAU’s release later the same day. We’ll start with 5A: We can’t really make any arguments with the IGHSAU current rankings released yesterday. Our top 8 are identical and we have 14 of the 15 the same. The only difference being we have Southeast Polk at #15, while IGHSAU has Sioux City East at #15 (we have at #17). Both have losing records but are playing their best volleyball of the season as of late. Looking at 4A: Again, no major disagreements from us on who the IGHSAU has in their top 15. We have some minor differences in our top 10 (e.g. we have MOC-Floyd Valley at #6 and the IGHSAU has them at #9), and we have 13 of the 15 the same. We have Lewis Central at #12 and Bishop Heelan at #15, neither of which are ranked by the IGHSAU, while they have Western Dubuque at #14 (we have at #17) and North Polk at #15 (we have at #16). Splitting hairs here, valid arguments can be made for each of those four. Moving to 3A: We have all 15 of the same schools ranked. The biggest difference between ours and theirs is Roland Story (we have at #9 and they have them at #13) and Mount Vernon (we have at #12 and they have them at #8). Other than that, we’re within 1 or 2 spots on most every other pick. Looking at 2A: Once again, we have all 15 of the ranked schools the same. Beyond that, we have very little difference in the individual rankings, pretty much aligned on this class. And 1A: The small schools arguably receive the least coverage, and are probably the most difficult to rank, if for no other reason, there are many more schools to evaluate. While 5A has 40 schools, 1A has 119. Not surprisingly, this is the class that we have the biggest differences with the IGHSAU. We have the same top 5, with a slightly different order, and we have 12 of the same top 15 schools. We have Lake Mills, Southeast Warren, and Burlington Notre Dame at 12-14 respectively, none of which are ranked by the IGHSAU. They have Cedar Ridge Christian and Council Bluffs St Albert at #13 and #14. We have no issue with either of these rankings (we have them at #’s 16 & 17 respectively) as they are both having strong seasons. That leaves us with the one ranking that we are having a problem getting our heads around. The IGHSAU has Springville ranked #9. We are not taking shots at Springville, we’ve had them ranked previously, and they are having a solid year, but we don’t believe their record, lack of quality wins and strength of schedule justify a current top 15 ranking, let alone #9. For reference, we have Springville at #21, Bound has them at #22, VolleyRank has them at #22 and PrepDig doesn’t have them ranked in their top 15. We went back and looked at a couple of schools that the IGHSAU has ranked below Springville to do a simple comparison. Take Dunkerton for example (IGHSAU has them ranked #14), they have a strength of schedule of 114 per Bound (vs 140 for Springville) which is the 6th toughest in 1A, and have beaten 3 schools with a higher power rating than the best win on Springville’s schedule. Likewise, Ankeny Christian (rated #11 by IGHSAU) has a strength of schedule of 101 (5th toughest in 1A) and has 3 wins over higher power rated teams than any win on Springville’s schedule. Springville’s worst loss of the season came against Ottumwa (power rating of 159), 1/2

Here are our week five rankings. The rankings by IGHSAU are starting to be very important to post season brackets, as we are one week away from the release of the Regional pairings. This season is flying by… we will be playing regional matches in less than three weeks!