Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The Field

No. 8 Clear Creek Amana (32-10) vs. No. 3 Marion (35-6)

Clear Creek Amana is making its fourth state tournament appearance and first since 2014.

The Clippers enter the state tournament red hot having won 13 of their last 15 matches including a regional final sweep of defending Class 3A state champion West Delaware.

The only two losses for Clear Creek Amana in October came at the hands of 4A qualifiers Marion and North Scott.

Marion won the lone regular season meeting over Clear Creek Amana in straight sets (25-20, 25-19) in the semifinals of the WAMAC tournament on October 13.

Clear Creek Amana is led by junior Bliss Beck who ranks sixth in 4A with 355 kills and second in both hitting efficiency (.423) and blocks (133).

Three other Clippers have at least 130 kills this season with freshman Averie Lower posting 187 kills and juniors Sam Schrage (146) and Addison Gisleson (137) combining for 283 kills.

Junior Meg Berkland ranks sixth in 4A with 435 digs.

Marion returns to the state tournament for the third time in the past four seasons and has reached the semifinals in each of its previous two appearances.

The Wolves fell to eventual state champion Western Dubuque in the semifinals last season.

Marion enters the state tournament with a resume as strong as any team in the 4A field.

All six of the losses for the Wolves have come to state qualifying opponents ranked in the top three.

Marion has lost twice each to top-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier and 3A third-ranked Mount Vernon.

The Wolves have one of the top setters in 4A in senior Avery Hook (881 assists) and one of the most efficient hitters in the class in junior Michaela Goad who ranks third in 3A with 389 kills.

Senior Peyton Johnson is a returning all-stater and ranks second on the team with 305 kills.

No. 1 Cedar Rapids Xavier (30-4) vs. No. 14 Sioux City Heelan (24-14)

Cedar Rapids Xavier is making a seventh consecutive state tournament appearance and is coming off a quarterfinal loss to Marion last season.

The Saints are seeking a second 4A title in three seasons after winning the first title in program history in 2020.

Cedar Rapids Xavier is 4-1 against teams in the Class 4A field with wins over Marion, Western Dubuque and North Scott.

The Saints are 1-1 against North Scott this season with its other three losses coming to 5A opponents Liberty High and Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

Sophomore Libby Fandel leads four Xavier players with at least 148 kills with a team-high 296 kills while Anika Ivester had 236 kills.

Anna Shoger directs the Xavier offense and has a team-leading 772 assists while sophomore Brooklyn Miller has a team-high 304 digs.

Sioux City Heelan is making a second consecutive state tournament appearance after a three-year drought without a trip to state.

The Crusaders lost to top-seeded Western Dubuque in the 4A quarterfinals last season.

The Crusaders have won six of their last seven matches including a sweep of tenth-ranked Norwalk in the regional final.

Sophomore Maliyah Hacker leads Sioux City Heelan with 309 kills while four other Crusaders have at least 100 kills.

Senior Lauren LaFleur has 185 kills while seniors Kenley Meis and Grace Nelson each have 138 kills while Nelson has a team-high 103 blocks.

No. 4 Indianola (37-6) vs. No. 5 Western Dubuque (24-10)

Indianola returns to the state tournament for the first time since 2014 and gets an opening-round match with defending state champion Western Dubuque.

The Indians bring a 14-match winning streak into the state tournament and haven’t dropped a single set during that stretch.

Indianola has four losses to Class 5A competition and another to Class 2A state qualifier Western Christian.

Three different Indianola players have at least 200 kills led by sophomores Aspen Nelsen (348 kills) and Camryn Overton (248 kills).

Senior Kailey Peters has 203 kills and a team-high 55 blocks.

Defending state champion Western Dubuque returns to the state tournament for the fourth straight season.

The Bobcats have reached the semifinals in each of their previous three trips to state finishing runner-up in 2019 and falling in the semifinals in 2020 before winning its first title last season.

Senior Libby Lansing leads Western Dubuque with 309 kills and has the top hitting efficiency in Class 4A at .473.

Hailey Wulfekuhle leads a group of four other Bobcats with at least 100 kills with 186 kills.

Lansing has a team-high 98 kills while Ella Meyer leads Class 4A with 648 digs.

No. 2 North Scott (32-5) vs. No. 11 Bondurant-Farrar (24-10)

North Scott is making a fourth consecutive state tournament appearance.

The Lancers lost in the quarterfinals in 2019 and 2020 before falling to Waverly-Shell Rock in the 4A semifinals last season.

North Scott has won eight of their last nine matches with the lone loss during that stretch a five-set setback to 3A second-ranked Davenport Assumption.

The five losses for the Lancers this season have come to Assumption, 5A qualifier Pleasant Valley, 3A top-ranked Des Moines Christian, 3A third-ranked Mount Vernon and 4A top-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier.

North Scott is 3-1 against teams in the 4A field with wins over Clear Creek Amana, Marion and Cedar Rapids Xavier.

Sophomore Abbey Hayes leads North Scott with 336 kills while Sydney Skarich has 251 kills and senior Lauren Gollinghorst has a team-high 39 blocks.

Bondurant-Farrar returned to the state tournament for the second consecutive season and fourth time in program history with a win over seventh-ranked North Polk in the regional final.

The Bluejays get a quarterfinal rematch with North Scott after the Lancers eliminated them a season ago.

Senior Hannah Ditsworth lead Bondurant-Farrar with 347 kills while senior Hallie Bedier has 252 kills and 320 digs.

Rylie Hamilton directs the offense and leads the Bluejays with 663 kills.

The Faces

Clear Creek Amana: Bliss Beck, 6-2, Jr. – One of the top players in the state Beck ranks sixth in 4A with 355 kills and ranks second in both hitting efficiency (.423) and blocks 133.

Cedar Rapids Xavier: Anika Ivester, 6-4, Sr. – An Omaha recruit, Ivester ranks second on the team with 236 kills on a team-high .408 hitting and leads the Saints with 72 blocks.

Sioux City Heelan: Laura LaFleur, 6-2, Sr. – An honorable mention all-state pick last season LaFleur ranks second on the team with 185 kills and 52 blocks.

Western Dubuque: Libby Lansing, 6-1, Sr. – A second-team all-state selection last season Lansing leads the Bobcats in both kills (309) and blocks (98).

Indianola: Aspen Nelson, 5-7, Soph. – Nelson has emerged as a major threat in her first season as the go-to option for the Indians leading the team with 348 kills on .269 hitting.

Western Dubuque: Libby Lansing, X-X, Sr. – 2^nd team all-state

North Scott: Abbey Hayes, 6-2, Soph. – One of the top young players in Class 4A Hayes lead the Lancers with 336 kills on .309 hitting and has 24 blocks and 162 digs.

Bondurant-Farrar: Hannah Bitsworth, 6-2, Sr. – Leads the Bluejays with 347 kills and 66 blocks and also ranks third on the team with 41 ace serves.

Marion: Avery Van Hook, 5-10, Sr. – A South Dakota commit, Van Hook was a first-team all-stater pick a year ago and ranks second in Class 4A with 881 assists to go with 222 kills and 44 blocks.

The Favorite

The 4A field is simply loaded.

The top five ranked teams from the final rankings are all in the field, a list that includes defending state champion Western Dubuque and perennial powers North Scott and Marion.

Still it is Cedar Rapids Xavier that enters top ranked and a slight favorite to secure the 4A title.

The Saints have the best resume, are battle tested, experienced and poised to win a second title in three seasons.

The Forecast

This field should be incredibly fun to watch.

Cedar Rapids Xavier and defending champion Western Dubuque could meet in the semifinals if the Bobcats can get past a challenging quarterfinal matchup with Indianola.

The seeding points toward a North Scott vs. Marion semifinal but Clear Creek Amana could have something to say about that.

The Clippers showed last week in a sweep of sixth-ranked West Delaware they are peaking at the right time and have a front row dominator in 6-foot-2 junior Bliss Beck.

The Focus

Can Western Dubuque defend its title?

In a loaded 4A field that includes top-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier, second-ranked North Scott it is Western Dubuque that enters the state tournament the defending champion.

The Bobcats entered as the top seed a year ago, knocking off third-seeded Waverly-Shell Rock in the finals.

If Western Dubuque is to become the first repeat champion since Dubuque Wahlert in 2018 it will need to do it as the fifth seed which could mean three consecutive matches against top-four ranked opponents.

Five Fast Facts

*– Six of the teams in the 4A field were at the state tournament a year ago including three of the four semifinalists from 2021.

*– Clear Creek Amana junior Bliss Beck is the only player in the state with at least 350 kills and 130 blocks this season.

*– Western Dubuque senior Ella Meyer ranks second in the state in digs and her 648 digs this season are 160 more than any other player in 4A.

*– Marion is the only team in the 4A field and one of only five teams at the state tournament with two players with at least 300 kills in junior Michaela Goad (389) and senior Peyton Johnson (305).

*– Five of the teams in the 4A field have won a state title. Sioux City Heelan has three championships while Marion, North Scott, Cedar Rapids Xavier and Western Dubuque have all won one.

The Schedule

Quarterfinals, October 31

Cedar Rapids Xavier (30-4) vs. Sioux City Heelan (21-14), 4 p.m.

Indianola (37-6) vs. Western Dubuque (24-10), 6 p.m.

North Scott (32-5) vs. Bondurant-Farrar (24-10), 4 p.m.

Marion (35-6) vs. Clear Creek Amana (32-10), 6 p.m.

Semifinals, November 2

Cedar Rapids Xavier/Sioux City Heelan winner vs. Indianola/Western Dubuque winner, Noon

North Scott/Bondurant-Farrar winner vs. Marion/Clear Creek Amana winner, Noon

Championship, November 3

Semifinal winners, 12:15 p.m.

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