Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The field is nearly set.

Action gets underway at the state volleyball tournament at Xtream Arena in Coralville on Monday with the finals set for Thursday.

Teams in Class 5A, 4A and 3A secured spots at the state meet in regional finals on Tuesday night and on Wednesday the action shifts to the smallest two classes.

Regional finals in Classes 2A and 1A on Wednesday will round out the state tournament field.

Here is a quick look at the regional final match between Regina and Denver on Wednesday.

Class 2A, Region 8

No. 9 Regina (29-15) vs. No. 7 Denver (25-14)

Where: Center Point-Urbana High School

When: Wednesday, 7 p.m.

Players to watch: Denver – Junior Adeana Murch has a team-high 265 kills on .224 hitting, ranks second on the team with 254 assists, ranks third on the team with 240 digs and has 23 blocks and 23 ace serves.

Regina – Senior Lyla Chandler ranks fifth in the state and is fourth in Class 2A with 476 kills while hitting .327 and leads Regina with 63 blocks while adding 101 digs.

About the Regals: Regina is seeking its sixth state tournament appearance in program history and third in a row.

The Regals have won seven of their last eight matches entering the regional final with the lone loss during that stretch coming to Class 3A state qualifier Wilton.

All 15 of the losses for Regina this season have come to ranked teams or teams from larger classes.

The Regals are 5-9 against ranked opponents this season with wins over Class 2A third-ranked Dyersville Beckman and 2A No. 10 Hudson.

Chandler leads a Regina attack that features four players with at least 139 kills.

Sophomore Jada Wiltz has 265 kills while freshman Lexi Gaffey has 194 kills and senior Adalee Klein has 139 kills and ranks third on the team with 57 blocks.

Senior libero Addison Bollier ranks second in the state and leads Class 2A with 690 digs while senior setter Nora Wilhelm leads the state with 1,046 assists.

About the Cyclones: The two-time defending state champion in Class 2A, Denver is seeking a seventh consecutive trip to the state tournament.

After going a combined 97-4 during their two state title seasons the Cyclones are 25-14 this season while once again facing a challenging schedule that included 27 matches against ranked opponents.

Denver is 13-14 against ranked teams this season with eight of the losses coming against teams ranked in the top five in their respective class.

The Cyclones are playing their best entering the postseason. Denver has won four of its last five matches including consecutive postseason sweeps of Nashua-Plainfield and Jesup.

Five different players have at least 100 kills for the Cyclones this season led by junior Adeana Murch with 265.

Senior Mackenzie McEwan has 177 kills and freshman Mya Herrmann has 136 kills and a team-high 83 blocks.

Junior Aubrey Roethler has 121 kills and 66 blocks and sophomore Lydia Gleason has 112 kills.

Eighth-grader Brehanna Murch leads Denver with 490 assists and eighth-grader Lucy Murch leads the Cyclones with 377 digs.

What to watch: This shapes up as one of the best regional final matches in Class 2A between a pair of the most successful programs in the class over the past several seasons.

Chandler is among the best hitters in Class 2A and Regina will look to get its kill leader going early but offensive balance will be a key for both teams.

In a regional semifinal win over West Burlington on Monday the Regals had five players with six or more kills.

Chandler had a team-high 24 kills in that four-set win while Wiltz had 22 and Gaffey added 10 while Klein had nine kills.

If Regina can get production from its entire lineup the Regals become a difficult team to defend.

Look for senior setter Nora Wilhelm to spread the ball around as Regina attempts to reach the state tournament three years in a row for the first time in program history.

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