Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The volleyball postseason is here.

Regional action gets underway on Monday with every team seeking to secure a spot at the state tournament schedule for October 30 – November 2 at Xtream Arena in Coralville.

In just nine days the state tournament fields will be set with regional title games schedule for October 24^th and 25.

There will be plenty to watch between now and the opening day of the state tournament as 40 state tournament spots are up for grabs across five classes in the next week and half.

Before the action gets rolling here is a quick look at a few things to watch during the volleyball postseason in the Your Prep Sports area.

CCA’s Magical Season 

It was an incredible regular season for Clear Creek Amana.

The top-ranked Clippers are a perfect 43-0 and join 2A top-ranked Dike-New Hartford (44-0) as the only remaining unbeaten teams in the state.

All that is left for Clear Creek Amana to cap a story book season is the magical postseason run.

Last year’s 4A state runner-up, Clear Creek Amana needs five more wins to cap an unbeaten season with the first state title in program history.

The Clippers have been absolutely dominant from the opening night of the season, losing just four total sets during their 43-0 consecutive wins.

Clear Creek Amana won three consecutive matches over ranked teams to win its first WAMAC Conference Tournament title last Thursday downing 3A No. 10 West Delaware, 3A No. 9 Center Point-Urbana and 4A No. 9 Marion.

The Clippers open 4A, Region 8 play on Thursday at home against the winner of the opening-round game between Keokuk (10-15) and Mount Pleasant (9-27) and with a win would host the Region 8 title game on October 24.

Clipper Senior Sendoff

Top-ranked Clear Creek Amana is obviously a heavy favorite to advance out of Region 8 but the back-to-back home games heading into state offer a perfect farewell tour for a group of Clipper seniors that have been at the center of the program’s rise.

Seniors Bliss Beck, Sam Schrage, Addison Gisleson and Meg Berkland have started every match for the Clippers this season while senior Kenadi Wood has played in all 43 matches.

Beck has been incredible in her final season ranking third in 4A with 360 kills on a 4A-best .472 hitting while leading 4A with 99 blocks.

Berkland leads 4A with 439 digs and Schrage ranks fifth in 4A with 69 blocks and is third on the team with 156 kills.

Gisleson has 92 kills and 354 digs and Wood has 413 assists and a team-high 44 ace serves.

Can Solon Get Rollin’?

Solon has made strides this fall in year two under head coach Mikayla Siddell after a strong finish to last season.

This postseason is setting up very similar to a year ago for the Spartans.

A year ago Solon was 24-12 entering regional play and posted back-to-back home sweeps before pushing West Liberty to four sets in a regional final loss on the road.

This season Solon is 20-13 and ranked No. 11 entering its 3A, Region 8 opener on Tuesday against Central Lee (12-25).

With a quarterfinal win over Tuesday the Spartans would host the winner of Tipton (18-17) and Mediapolis (14-14) in a Region 8 semifinal on Thursday.

Defending 3A champion and fourth-ranked Davenport Assumption (24-7) is likely waiting in the Region 8 title game.

Assumption has defeated Solon twice in best of three matches in the last month and offers an opportunity for the Spartans to see just how far they have come this season.

Solon certainly has the firepower to contend, as is evidence but its four wins over top-10 ranked competition this season which includes a five-set victory over defending 4A champion Cedar Rapids Xavier.

Juniors Yasmine Sell (238 kills), Grace Erwin (157 kills) and Addie Miller (117 kills) and sophomore Jozie Lahr (177 kills) give the Spartans a balanced offensive attack capable of causing problems for opponents.

Don’t Count Out Liberty

Yes, Liberty High lost a lot off last year’s 5A title team.

Sure, the Lightning are young, with four freshmen in the starting lineup.

And yes, Liberty High enters the postseason with an 18-21 record.

Even with all that said, no team is going to be comfortable playing Liberty High in the postseason.

Liberty High has been battled tested by a rugged schedule that featured 16 matches against ranked 5A competition and 27 matches against currently ranked teams.

The freshmen in the Liberty High lineup (Edie and Hadley Miller, EllieWilson and Sydney Van Heukelom) have all had nearly 40 matches of varsity experience along with sophomore Lucy Maassen who ranks second on the team with 220 kills.

Those young players now with experience joined with talented junior Asta Hildebrand (322 kills, 343 assists) makes Liberty High a dangerous postseason opponent.

It’s not an easy postseason path for the Lightning who host Ottumwa (27-8) in a tough 5A, Region 8 semifinal with the winner likely headed to eighth-ranked Ankeny (22-14) in the regional title match.

Liberty High is 1-2 against Ankeny this season, winning its most recent match with the Hawks in three sets back on September 30.

Little Hawks Hitting Stride

As expected with a new coach it took a little bit of time for City High to find its rhythm this season.

City High seems to have found its footing under first-year head coach Carolyn Giese at the right time.

After opening the season 5-5, City High has won 17 of its last 21 matches entering its regional opener on Tuesday against Muscatine (23-10).

Class 5A No. 12 City High (22-9) is 8-1 in October with its lone loss a three-set setback to 5A No. 9 Dubuque Senior at the MVC tournament last week.

City High has four players with more than 100 kills this season but has relied heavily on senior Claire Ernst (326) and junior Emmy McComas (206 kills) in key moments.

If City High can get past Muscatine it would likely travel to sixth-ranked West Des Moines Valley (17-15) for the Region 6 title match.

A Rematch in 2A Region 7

West Branch and Regina have already met twice this season.

The second matchup between the two River Valley Conference rivals was the type of match that left everyone wanting a rematch.

That could be the case as West Branch (15-16) just needs a win over Louisa-Muscatine (0-21) in an opening-round match on Monday to earn a third meeting with No.13 Regin (26-10) in the 2A, Region 7 quarterfinals on Thursday at Regina.

Regina won the first meeting in straight sets in August and then outlasted the Bears in a five-set thriller at Regina on September 14.

The five-set Regal win featured a 30-28 win for each team and was decided by a 15-12 Regal win in the fifth set.

The reward for the winner would likely be a semifinal matchup with Lisbon (27-6), which beat Regina in five sets earlier this season.

Fourth-ranked Denver (31-10) is the top-seeded team in Region 7.

Naeve’s Big Season Continues

It’s a big accomplishment for a high school hitter to reach 1,000 kills.

It took less than two full seasons for Regina sophomore Reece Naeve crack the 1,000-kill barrier.

Naeve has followed up a strong debut season with a stellar sophomore season and enters the postseason leading the state in kills with 564.

The 5-foot-7 Naeve is hitting .344 on the season and leads the Regals with 378 digs and 46 ace serves and is second on the team with 24 blocks.

Sophomore Kiley Devery has enjoyed her own stellar season with 326 kills on .277 hitting while senior setter Sydney Wagner leads the state with 1,042 assists for the Regals.

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