Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The state volleyball tournament is just a few days away but before action gets underway at Xtream Arena in Coralville the fields must be set.

That starts on Tuesday with regional title matches in Classes 5A, 4A and 3A.

Here is a quick look at the Class 5A regional title matches featuring teams from the Your Prep Sports area.

Class 5A, Region 3

No. 11 City High (17-12) at No. 3 Ankeny (35-4)

Where: Ankeny High School

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.

Player to watch: Ankeny senior Reagan Hanfelt is an Iowa State commit and a returning third-team all-state selection that leads Class 5A in blocks (107), leads Ankeny in hitting efficiency (.383) and ranks second on the team with 283 kills.

About the Little Hawks: City High returns to the regional title game for the second consecutive season seeking its first state tournament trip since 2014.

The Little Hawks reached the title game with a sweep of Waterloo West on Thursday which snapped a three-match losing skid in best of five matches.

City High has three players with more than 180 kills led by sophomores Kaitlin Loria and Hattie Galloway.

Loria has a team-high 195 kills and Galloway has 190 kills while hitting a team-high .342 and leads the Little Hawks with 65 blocks.

Senior Emmy McComas has 188 kills and leads the team with 216 digs.

Freshman setter Hazel Schluckebier has 572 assists and 60 kills for the Little Hawks.

About the Hawks: Ankeny is seeking a seventh consecutive state tournament appearance after falling in the 5A quarterfinals a year ago.

The Hawks return a trio of all-state players from a year ago in seniors Kamryn Scheib, Hanfelt and Baileigh Carlsen.

Ankeny brings a 10-match winning streak into the regional title game with its last loss coming on September 26.

The Hawks have wins over fourth-ranked West Des Moines Dowling and sixth-ranked Waukee Northwest during that current 10-match win streak.

Ankeny has four players with at least 200 kills led by Scheib with 296 and the 6-foot Hanfelt with 283 while senior Olivia Eike has 239 kills and Maya Ridgeway has 210.

Junior Miya Steinkamp has 506 assists and sophomore Gracyn Adams has 442 assists while Carlsen leads the team with 495 digs.

What to watch: Offensive balance will be key for both teams.

Both teams spread the ball around and rely on its balance to keep opposing team off balance rather than depending on a single hitter to do much of the heavy lifting in the attack.

Loria, Galloway and McComas have combined for 573 kills and will all need to be clicking for City High to pull a road upset.

City High has shown an ability to play with top notch teams but will need to get its hitting trio on track in order to push a talented Ankeny team.

Class 5A, Region 4

West High (13-17) at No. 4 West Des Moines Dowling (24-9)

Where: West Des Moines Dowling High School

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.

Player to watch: West Des Moines Dowling senior Annalise Grant is an Iowa State commit and the all-time digs leader at Dowling. Grant has a team-high 387 digs this season and ranks third on the team with 22 ace serves.

About the Trojans: It has already been a season of major growth for West High which has upped its win total by four matches from last season and jumped into the top-15 in 5A earlier this season.

A regional final win and the first trip to state for the Trojans since 2016 would be the icing on the cake.

West High advanced to the regional title game with a sweep of Marshalltown in the regional semifinals last Thursday.

The Trojans had lost six of their previous eight matches before the regional semifinal sweep of Marshalltown.

West High has a rising star in sophomore Sophia Austen who has posted a breakthrough season with 299 kills, 224 digs and 29 blocks.

Senior Ava Bruxvoort has added 162 kills and freshman Audrey Small has 97 kills and leads the Trojans with 41 ace serves and 76 blocks.

Sophomore setter Lila Eastvold runs the West High offense and has a team-high 565 assists to go with 39 ace serves.

About the Maroons: The defending 5A runner-up, West Des Moines Dowling is seeking a staggering 13^th consecutive trip to the state tournament.

The Maroons were the top seed at the state tournament a year ago and fell to Waukee Northwest in five sets in the 5A title match.

West Des Moines Dowling once again figures to fit into the title mix this season.

All eight of the in-state losses for the Maroons have come against teams ranked in the top six in their respective class including six losses to top-three ranked opponents.

Five different players have at least 130 kills for West Des Moines Dowling led by sophomore Kaylie Klein who has a team-high 294 kills.

Junior Ellie Muller has 174 kills and a team-high 77 blocks and Ava Groeteke has 141 kills and 54 blocks.

Senior Kate Nelson has 140 kills and 74 blocks and senior Siri Beecher has 130 kills.

What to watch: This is a rematch of a regular season match won by West Des Moines Dowling 21-11, 21-11 at the Westside Invite at Cedar Rapids Jefferson earlier this month.

In that loss to the Maroons Austen had six kills and Bruxvoort had five to account for all but three of the West High kills.

On the season Bruxvoort and Austen have accounted for better than 65 percent of the Trojans’ kills.

Austen and Bruxvoort will both need to have strong matches for West High to be in position to earn a win but getting a boost from the rest of its hitters like Small and sophomore Gracie Liu would be a huge boost in the Trojan’s upset chances.

Class 5A, Region 7

No. 10 Liberty High (15-20) at No. 7 Cedar Falls (32-6)

Where: Cedar Falls High School

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.

Player to watch: Cedar Falls senior Grace Hannam is a Northern Iowa commit and was a second-team all-state pick last season.

The 6-foot-1 Hannam has 258 kills on .325 hitting and ranks second in 5A with 101 blocks.

About the Lightning: Liberty High is seeking to return to the state tournament for the fifth time in six seasons after having its string of four consecutive appearances end last year with a regional final loss at Ankeny.

The Lightning have been challenged all season by a tough schedule that has resulted in 20 losses to ranked opponents including six setbacks to currently top-ranked teams.

Liberty High advanced to the regional title game with a win over Dubuque Senior last Thursday and will be appearing in a regional final for the sixth consecutive season.

Senior Asta Hildebrand headlines a group of three Liberty High players with at least 100 kills with a team-high 289 kills while also handing out 282 assists.

Lucy Maassen has 156 kills and sophomore Ellie Wilson has 105 kills for the Lightning.

Hadley Miller has 356 assists and 105 kills and Edie Miller has a team-high 532 digs.

Sophomore Sydney Van Heukelom has 90 kills and a team-high 62 blocks and junior Ashlyn Nordell has 58 kills and 60 blocks.

About the Tigers: After having a string of seven consecutive state tournament appearances snapped in 2022 the Tigers returned to state last season falling to eventual champion Waukee Northwest in the 5A quarterfinals.

Cedar Falls is now seeking a return trip to Coralville where it will look to get back into the title hunt.

Sophomore Kenedy Krecklow leads the Tigers with 271 kills to highlight a group of four hitters with at least 140 kills.

Senior Natalie Schmadeke has 179 kills and senior Kya Bradfield has 147 kills.

Junior setter Brynn Bakula leads the Tigers with 632 kills while junior Anni Wedgbury has a team-high 422 digs.

What to watch: These two teams just played two weeks ago with Cedar Falls winning 25-22, 25-13 at the Mississippi Valley Conference tournament at Cedar Rapids Xavier.

Hannam and Schmadeke each had nine kills in that Cedar Falls win as the Tigers held a 32-19 edge in kills in the two-set victory.

How much does that mean going into Tuesday?

Probably not much but Liberty High will need to find a way to deal with the height that Cedar Falls brings with Schmadeke (6-0), Hannam (6-1) and Bradfield (5-11).

Liberty High has one of the best back row players in the state in 5A dig leader Edie Miller and she will need to be at her best as Liberty High tries to slow the Cedar Falls attack.

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