The Field

No. 4 Clear Creek Amana (37-7) vs. No. 5 Pella (39-7)

Clear Creek Amana returns to the state tournament for the sixth time in program history and third consecutive season.

The Clippers have reached the semifinals each of the past two seasons, playing in the 2022 title game and falling to eventual champion North Scott in the semifinals last season.

All seven losses for Clear Creek Amana this season have come to ranked teams including six losses to teams ranked in the top 10.

Returning all-state Averie Lower leads the way for Clear Creek Amana ranking third in 4A with 390 kills.

Sophomore Bailey Simpson has 211 kills and 74 blocks and junior Sariah Sherman has 164 kills and a team-high 76 blocks.

Junior Elizabeth Timmerman has 158 kills.

Junior setter Emily Henderson ranks fifth in 4A with 887 kills and senior Kylie Koehn has a team-high 314 digs.

Pella returns to the state tournament for the first time since 2018 after a sweep of No. 11 Norwalk in the regional title game.

All seven losses for Pella this season have come to top-10 ranked teams including four losses to teams ranked either first or second in their respective class.

Senior Katie Scheckel leads Pella with 319 kills and has 400 assists while junior Brooke Schulte has 250 kills.

Senior Emma Eekhoff has 188 kills and 433 assists and junior Abbie Brand has 152 kills and leads the Dutch with 87 blocks.

Senior Kelsey Tauke has 70 blocks.

No. 1 Cedar Rapids Xavier (28-4) vs. No. 12 Sergeant Bluff-Luton (21-13)

One of the top programs in the state over the last decade Cedar Rapids Xavier is making its ninth consecutive appearance at the state tournament.

The Saints won 4A titles in 2020 and 2022 and enter the state tournament top-ranked and top-seeded and seeking another title run.

Cedar Rapids Xavier has just one loss to in-state competition this season coming against third-ranked North Scott on September 14.

The Saints enter the state tournament riding a six-match win streak that includes victories over 3A qualifier Dubuque Wahlert and 5A qualifier Cedar Falls as well as ranked 5A opponents Linn-Mar and Liberty High.

Returning all-state Libby Fandel leads Cedar Rapids Xavier with 375 kills and 60 ace serves.

Junior Macie Lupkes has 194 kills and a team-high 74 blocks and Taylor Rexroth has 157 kills.

Senior Carley Jonker has 156 kills and junior setter Josie Smith leads Cedar Rapids Xavier with 844 assists.

Sergeant Bluff-Luton returns to state for the sixth time in the past eight seasons and first since 2021.

The Warriors made five consecutive appearances from 2017-21, winning the 4A title in 2019, before missing the state tournament the past two seasons.

Sergeant Bluff-Luton has five losses this season to teams in the 4A field but is coming off a four-set win over sixth-ranked Council Bluffs Lewis Central in the regional title game.

Junior Bre VanDenTop has 334 kills to lead a group of four players with at least 119 kills and also has a team-high 74 blocks.

Junior Izzy Schaap has 147 kills and sophomores Kenleigh Panowicz (133) and Madison Kvidera (119) each have more than 100 kills.

No. 2 Sioux City Heelan (41-3) vs. No. 9 Carlisle (25-9)

Sioux City Heelan returns to the state tournament for the third time in the past four seasons after missing the state tournament last season.

The Crusaders are seeking their first state tournament win since 2016 after falling in the quarterfinals in each of their previous three appearances.

The three losses for Sioux City Heelan are the fewest for a 4A qualifier with the lone two losses to in-state competition coming to 4A qualifier Pella and 5A qualifier Indianola.

Sioux City Heelan has four players with at least 180 kills led by senior Maliyah Hacker with 380.

Junior Ava Lloyd has 234 kills, senior Addison Kleis has 206 kills and sophomore Melina Snoozy has 180 kills.

Senior setter Maddie LaFleur ranks second in 4A with 930 assists and senior Abby Lee has a team-high 69 blocks.

Carlisle will be making its state debut on Monday after downing tenth-ranked Marion in a five-set thriller in the regional title game.

The Wildcats have six losses to ranked teams this season including four to state qualifiers.

Seniors AshleeKay Christensen and Sydney Light lead the way for Carlisle combining for 706 kills.

Christensen has a team-high 372 kills and 41 blocks while Light has 334 kills and 248 digs.

Senior Ava Chanthavong has 99 kills and a team-high 77 blocks and senior Abby Barry leads the Wildcats with 405 assists.

No. 3 North Scott (29-4) vs. No. 7 Glenwood (36-6)

Defending 5A champion North Scott is making its sixth consecutive state tournament appearance and will get a solid opening-round test in Glenwood.

North Scott enters the state tournament riding a 12-match winning streak that includes wins over a pair of state qualifiers in which the Lancers have not dropped a set.

Two of the four losses this season for North Scott have come against top-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier with the other losses coming to No. 10 Marion and 3A top-ranked Mount Vernon.

Last year’s 4A player of the year Abbey Hayes leads the Lancers with 380 kills while junior McKenzie Moeller has 269 kills and senior Emee Allard has 196 kills.

Junior Addison Allen leads North Scott with 889 assists and senior Lainey Wall has a team-best 54 blocks.

Glenwood returns to the state tournament for the third time in program history and the first since making the second of back-to-back appearances in 2020.

All six losses for Glenwood have come to ranked opponents and five of the six losses have come to top-five ranked teams.

The Rams are 3-2 against 4A state qualifiers with wins over Pella, Carlisle and Sergeant Bluff-Luton and are coming off a four-set win over eighth-ranked ADM in the regional title game.

Senior Charley Hernandez leads a trio of Glenwood players with at least 250 kills with a team-high 401.

Senior Ilsa Kemling has 252 kills and a team-high 68 blocks and junior Kaylee Wray has 269 kills.

Senior Allison Koontz leads the Rams with 786 assists.

The Faces

North Scott: Abbey Hayes, 6-3, Sr. – An elite all-state pick last season and the reigning Class 4A player of the year the Creighton commit has a team-high 380 kills on .339 hitting to go with 157 digs and 52 ace serves.

Glenwood: Charley Hernandez, 5-7, Sr. – A third-team all-state pick last season Hernandez ranks second in 4A with 401 kills and also leads the Rams with 320 digs and 47 ace serves.

Sioux City Heelan: Maliyah Hacker, 6-1, Sr. – A first-team all-state pick last season Hacker has led the Crusaders in kills each of the past four seasons while racking up better than 1,300 career kills. This season she ranks fourth in 4A with 380 kills and leads Heelan with 57 ace serves.

Carlisle: AshleeKay Christensen, 6-0, Sr. – An Eastern Michigan recruit, Christensen has led the Wildcats each of her four years in the lineup and has 1,027 career kills. Christensen leads the team in kills (372), hitting efficiency (.248), digs (302) and ace serves (49).

Clear Creek Amana: Emily Henderson, 5-8, Jr. – The WAMAC West Division player of the year, Henderson is the leader of the Clipper attack and ranks fifth in 4A with 887 assists to go with 92 kills, 292 digs, 46 blocks and 42 ace serves.

Pella: Katie Scheckel, 5-9, Jr. – Scheckel is among the most versatile players in the 4A field leading the Dutch with 319 kills, 351 digs and 52 ace serves while ranking second on the team with 400 assists.

Cedar Rapids Xavier: Libby Fandel, 6-0, Sr. – A Kansas basketball recruit, Fandel is one of the best volleyball players in the state. Fandel is a returning first-team all-state pick that leads the Saints with 375 kills on .305 hitting while adding 60 aces and 208 digs.

Sergeant Bluff-Luton: Bre VanDenTop, 5-10, Jr. – VanDenTop leads the Warriors in both kills (334) and blocks (74) and is hitting a team-leading .312.

The Favorite

Top-ranked and top-seeded Cedar Rapids Xavier enters as the favorite by virtue of a pair of regular season wins over defending champion North Scott.

Xavier went 2-1 in three regular season meets against North Scott with the loss to North Scott the only setback against in-state competition for the Saints who are seeking a third title in the past five seasons.

The Forecast

Top-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier and third-ranked North Scott appear poised for a fourth meeting this season in the 4A title game.

There are significant obstacles for both teams along the way.

Clear Creek Amana has reached the semifinals in each of the past two seasons and is more than capable of pushing the Saints if it can get past Pella in the opening round.

North Scott would likely face second-ranked Sioux City Heelan in what could be another exciting semifinal.

The Focus

Is there a Xavier vs. North Scott part 4?

There are certainly teams capable of preventing the two 4A powers from meeting for a fourth time this season in Thursday’s title game but a major storyline this week will be which teams can knock off those two.

The top candidates appear to be Sioux City Heelan and Clear Creek Amana who each have impressive resumes.

Class 4A has seen its share of upsets the past several seasons.

North Scott won the title as a four seed last season and Clear Creek Amana reached the title match as a six seed in 2022.

Five Fast Facts

*- Carlisle seniors AshleeKay Christensen and Sydney Light have combined for 77 percent of the Wildcats kills this season, the most of any duo in the 4A field.

*- Only three teams in the 4A field were 4A state qualifiers last season, marking the fewest returning qualifiers of any of the five state tournament fields. Indianola was 4A qualifier last season and qualified in Class 5A this season.

*- The number one seed has won four of the last five 4A title. North Scott won the title last season as a four seed snapping a string of four consecutive years the number one seed won the 4A title.

*- Four of the top five kill leads in 4A are in the state tournament field in Glenwood senior Charley Hernandez (401), Clear Creek Amana junior Averie Lower (390), Sioux City Heelan senior Maliyah Hacker (380) and North Scott senior Abbey Hayes (380).

*- Clear Creek Amana and North Scott have both reached the 4A semifinals each of the past two seasons.

The Schedule

Quarterfinals, November 4

Cedar Rapids Xavier vs. Sergeant Bluff-Luton, 4 p.m.

Sioux City Heelan vs. Carlisle, 4:25 p.m.

Clear Creek Amana vs. Pella, 6 p.m.

North Scott vs. Glenwood, 6:25 p.m.

Semifinals, November 6

Cedar Rapids Xavier/Sergeant Bluff-Luton winner vs. Pella/Clear Creek Amana winner, Noon

Sioux City Heelan/Carlisle winner vs. North Scott/Glenwood winner, 12:25 p.m.

Championship, November 7

Semifinal winners, 12:15 p.m.

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