Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

There have already been 24 teams that have secured spots at the state volleyball tournament next week.

The final 16 spots will be filled on Wednesday evening.

Teams in Classes 5A, 4A and 3A locked up state tournament spots on Tuesday and on Wednesday evening it will be 1A and 2A teams vying for a spot at the tournament that begins on Monday at Xtream Arena in Coralville.

Before action gets underway in regional title games on Wednesday here is a quick look at the 2A regional final between Regina and Pella Christian.

Class 2A, Region 8

No. 8 Regina (23-4) vs. No. 9 Pella Christian (24-11)

Where: Grinnell High School

When: Wednesday, 7 p.m.

Player to watch: Pella Christian senior setter Chloe Huisman is a returning all-state selection that leads the Eagles with 518 assists and 39 ace serves, ranks fourth on the team with 142 kills and second with 222 digs.

About the Regals: Regina is seeking its first state tournament appearance since 2017 in its first regional final appearance since that same season.

The Regals are battle tested after a regular season schedule that featured 18 matches against ranked opponents.

Regina went 5-13 in those matches with 11 of the losses coming to ranked opponents from larger classes.

That competition has prepared the Regals well for the postseason as Regina is yet to drop a set in a pair of Region 8 wins.

Regina is led by junior Iowa State commit Reese Naeve who leads the state with 694 kills.

Naeve is hitting .313 and also ranks third on the team with 315 digs.

Senior Caitlin Martin has had a strong season opposite Naeve ranking second on the team with 235 kills while adding 369 digs.

Sophomore setter Nora Wilhelm runs the offense and leads Regina with 883 kills while sophomore Libero Addison Bollier ranks second in Class 2A with 643 digs.

About the Eagles: Pella Christian has had one of its most successful seasons in recent history winning more than 20 matches for the second time in the past six seasons.

A win in Wednesday’s regional final would match the highest win total for Pella Christian since 2016 and send the Eagles to the state tournament for the first time since 2010 while providing the exclamation point on an already strong season.

Pella Christian has been challenged by a strong schedule.

The Eagles are unbeaten against 2A competition this season with eight of their 11 losses coming to ranked opponents including three setbacks to Class 4A fifth-ranked state qualifier Pella and two to 5A fifth-ranked Indianola.

It is a balanced offensive attack for Pella Christian with eight players with at least 83 kills led by junior Brynn Roozeboom with a team-high 200 kills.

Senior setter Chloe Huisman directs the offense and has 518 assists and 142 kills while senior Addison Bandstra has 155 kills and a team-high 66 blocks.

Junior Addie Van Arendonk has 144 kills and sophomore Rachel Kacmarynski has 104 kills and 58 blocks.

What to watch: These two teams have been near mirror images of one another this season following similar paths to the regional title game.

Both teams are in the midst of their best seasons in recent memory and seeking to stop state tournament droughts.

Pella Christian and Regina have both faced challenging regular season schedules filled with matches against larger class competition and both are coming off back-to-back sweeps in postseason play.

There are plenty of similarities between the two programs and what they have done to get to this point.

In what appears to be an even match on paper look for the team that handles the moment better, especially early in the match to have the upper hand.

This has all the makings of a postseason classic where every point is contested so taking advantage of opportunities early before a team is able to settling in could be the difference.

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