Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The Field

No. 3 Clear Creek Amana (33-6) vs. No. 6 Sioux Center (22-9)

Clear Creek Amana returns to the state tournament for the fifth consecutive season seeking its first ever state title.

The Clippers are 192-30 during its five-year state tournament run that includes semifinal appearances in 2022, 2023, and 2025.

Clear Creek Amana reached the 4A title match in 2022 and has lost to the eventual state champion in three of its last four state tournament appearances.

The Clippers bring a 16-match winning streak into the state tournament, a stretch that includes wins over state qualifiers Solon and Union and a sweep of Burlington in the regional title match.

Four of the six losses for Clear Creek Amana this season have come to state qualifiers and the Clippers have wins over a trio of state qualifying teams including 4A qualifier Ballard.

Clear Creek Amana is led by junior Julia Schlarbaum who ranks third in Class 4A with 363 kills.

Senior Bailey Simpson has 341 kills on .338 hitting, leads the Clippers with 64 ace serves and ranks third on the team with 35 blocks.

Junior Delaney Vaske has 213 kills and a team-high 42 blocks and senior setter Payton Curtin leads Class 4A with 962 assists.

Junior Kendall Ronnfeldt has a team-high 349 digs.

Sioux Center is making its third consecutive state tournament appearance after finishing runner-up last season, falling to North Scott in the 4A title match.

Of the seven losses to in-state opponents this season for Sioux Center, six have come to top-six ranked state qualifiers Hinton (No. 1 in 2A), MOC-Floyd Valley (No. 2 in 3A), Western Christian (No. 1 in 3A) and Cherokee (No. 6 in 3A).

The Warriors have four players with at least 130 kills led by senior Maryn Franken with 308 kills.

Senior Adison Brantsen has 192 kills and a team-high 250 digs and junior Stella Hietbrink has 134 kills.

Senior Jorgia VanDeBerg has 130 kills and 23 blocks and senior Taylor Holverson leads the Warriors with 665 assists.

No. 1 Norwalk (30-6) vs. No. 8 Ballard (29-10)

Norwalk returns to the state tournament for the second year in a row after falling to Pella in the 4A quarterfinals last season.

Five of the losses for Norwalk this season have come to Class 5A opponents including three losses to 5A state tournament qualifiers.

The Warriors have wins over a pair of 5A qualifiers in Cedar Falls and Dallas Center-Grimes and own wins over 4A qualifiers Ballard and North Polk.

Led by 4A kill leader Elle Hatlevig the Warriors have four players with at least 100 kills on the season.

Senior Delaynee Steele has 241 kills on .414 hitting to go with 47 blocks while junior Embry Dupont has 127 kills and senior Myla Brown has 115 kills and a team-high 72 blocks.

Senior setter Hadley Michael ranks second in Class 4A with 909 assists and ranks second on the team with 64 blocks and senior Reese Heim has a team-high 299 digs.

Ballard makes its state tournament debut following a regional final win over No. 15 Council Bluffs Lewis Central.

The Bombers have won nine matches in a row entering state tournament play a stretch that includes a win over 3A state qualifier Roland-Story.

Six of the 10 losses for Ballard this season have come to state tournament qualifiers and two other losses have come to Class 5A opponents.

Five different players have at least 100 kills for Ballard led by junior Kendall Ersland who has a team-high 300 kills.

Norah Mudd has 195 kills on .381 hitting and has 56 blocks, Addison Hosteng has 180 kills while Harley Askelsen has 163 kills and a team-high 90 blocks.

Junior Lilly Huntrods has 117 kills, senior Halle Gardner has 410 digs and senior Hailey Estrem has a team-high 845 assists.

No. 4 Western Dubuque (32-6) vs. No. 5 North Polk (27-13)

Western Dubuque is making its seventh state tournament appearance and first since 2022 and the Bobcats come to Coralville with an impressive resume.

Of the six losses for Western Dubuque four have come to Class 5A opponents and three have come to state qualifying teams West High and Solon.

Western Dubuque has one of the top players in Class 4A in senior Kyla Ramler who ranks second in 4A with 385 kills on .294 hitting and has added 41 blocks.

Four Bobcats have at least 100 kills this season with junior Ellie Berning adding 208 kills and freshman Lauren Walker posting 195 kills and a team-high 60 blocks.

Senior Gabbie Demmer leads Class 4A and ranks ninth in the state with 539 digs.

North Polk is making its second state tournament appearance in program history and first since 2016.

The Comets navigated a challenging scheduled that produced seven losses to Class 5A opponents and reached the state tournament with a sweep of ninth-ranked Glenwood in the regional final.

Four players have at least 100 kills for North Polk led by junior Jaslyn Rasmussen who has a team-high 310 kills on .256 hitting.

Senior Madelyn Klever has 236 kills while Peyton Dirks has 128 kills and leads Class 4A with 117 blocks.

Jaiden Uhl has 123 kills and 58 blocks for North Polk.

No. 2 Davenport Assumption (25-7) vs. No. 7 Waverly-Shell Rock (29-15)

Last year’s Class 3A state champion, Davenport Assumption makes the jump to 4A this season where it will seek to secure a third state title in the past five seasons.

Davenport Assumption is making its ninth consecutive state tournament appearance, returning to state with a sweep of No. 13 Bondurant-Farrar in the regional title match.

Six of the seven losses for the Knights this season came against Class 5A opponents with the other loss coming to Class 3A third-ranked Dike-New Hartford.

Davenport Assumption owns four wins over state tournament qualifiers including a win over 4A qualifier Clear Creek Amana.

Junior Belle Cotton leads the Knights with 291 kills while freshman Zoe Cinadr has 192 kills and freshman Piper Peterson has 170 kills and 47 blocks

Sophomore setter Natalie Depoorter has 748 assists and 42 blocks while sophomore Taylor Camarena has a team-high 62 blocks.

Junior Piper Hodge ranks second in Class 4A with 438 digs.

Waverly-Shell Rock returned to the state tournament for the first time since 2021 with a win over No. 11 Marion in the regional final.

The Go-Hawks have won 12 of their last 14 matches entering the state tournament with wins over 3A state qualifiers Dike-New Hartford and Humboldt during that stretch.

Waverly-Shell Rock has three players with more than 240 kills this season led by junior Amalia Djoumessi with a team-high 321 kills.

Senior Lizzy Frazell has 274 kills and a team-high 311 digs senior Lauren Gade has 243 kills.

Senior Anika Wrage has 139 kills and 75 blocks while senior Adalyn Tucke has 125 kills and 52 blocks.

The Faces

Clear Creek Amana: Julia Schlarbaum, 6-1, Jr. – A South Dakota recruit, Schlarbaum was a third-team all-state pick last season and leads the Clippers with 363 kills on a team-high .338 hitting. Schlarbaum has 190 digs, 29 blocks and 47 ace serves.

Western Dubuque: Kyla Ramler, 6-1, Sr. – An Illinois State recruit, Ramler was a third-team all-stater a year ago and ranks second in Class 4A with 385 kills on .294 hitting this season.

Ramler has 41 blocks, 230 digs and 45 ace serves.

Norwalk: Elle Hatlevig, 6-1, Jr. – A Michigan State recruit, Hatlevig leads Class 4A and ranks third in the state with 518 kills on .379 hitting, ranks second on the team with 206 digs and leads the Warriors with 42 aces.

Davenport Assumption: Belle Cotton, 5-11, Jr. – A Grand Valley State commit, Cotton leads the Knights with 291 kills on .292 hitting, has a team-high 44 ace serves and ranks second on the team with 202 digs.

North Polk: Jaslyn Rasmussen, 5-11, Jr. – Rasmussen has done it all while helping the Comets return to the state tournament leading the team in kills (310) and digs (301), ranking second on the team in ace serves (29) and third in blocks (54).

Sioux Center: Maryn Franken, 6-1, Sr. – Franken leads the Warriors with 308 kills on .306 hitting and has a team-high 39 blocks. A second-team all-state pick last season, Franken ranks second on the team with 216 digs.

Waverly-Shell Rock: Amalia Djoumessi, 6-2, Jr. – Djoumessi leads the Go-Hawks in kills (321), hitting percentage (.446) and blocks (92) ranking in the top 12 in 4A in all three categories. Djoumessi leads 4A in hitting efficiency and ranks fourth in blocks.

Ballard: Hailey Estrem, 5-8, Sr. – The all-time assist leader at Ballard, Estrem ranks fifth in Class 4A with 845 assists and has 81 kills, 44 blocks, 211 digs and 24 ace serves.

The Favorite

Norwalk enters top-ranked and top-seeded and gets the slight nod as the favorite in a balanced Class 4A field that features just four teams that appeared in last year’s state tournament.

The three other returning state qualifiers are the top challengers to a Norwalk title.

Clear Creek Amana is at the top of that list as the Clippers have proved capable of playing with the top teams in the state.

The Clippers have a star in junior Julia Schlarbaum and state tournament experience after reaching the semifinals a year ago.

Defending 3A state champion Davenport Assumption and last year’s 4A runner-up Sioux Center are both capable of challenging anyone in the 4A bracket.

The Forecast

Picking a winner in 4A is no easy task.

Top-ranked Norwalk is the favorite but will have a battle in the semifinals with either Western Dubuque or North Polk if it can get past Ballard in the quarterfinals.

The Bottom half of the bracket is loaded with Clear Creek Amana and defending 4A runner-up meeting in the quarterfinals along with last year’s 3A champion Davenport Assumption and Waverly-Shell Rock squaring off.

The Go-Hawks are the lone team on the bottom half of the bracket not at the state tournament last year but could be a major factor.

The Focus

There will be a new champion in Class 4A with 2025 champ North Scott failing to return to Coralville.

So who is next in line?

The bracket sets up for Class 4A to be one of the most exciting tournaments of the week.

Top-ranked Norwalk, perennial power Clear Creek Amana, last year’s runner-up Sioux Center and 2025 Class 3A champion Davenport Assumption are all capable of winning a state title.

Keep an eye on Western Dubuque.

The Bobcats are the team in the 4A field to most recently win a 4A title, capturing the top spot in 2021 and are battled tested after facing a challenging schedule.

Five Fast Facts

*- North Polk junior Peyton Dirks ranks third in the state and leads Class 4A with 117 blocks.

* – Western Dubuque is the only team in the 4A field to win a 4A state title since the IGHSAU expanded to five Classes in 2012, winning the 4A crown in 2021.

* – The top three hitters for Clear Creek Amana all have more than 200 kills and boast a hitting efficiency over .300. Julia Schlarbaum (363/.338), Bailey Simpson (341/.338) and Delaney Vaske (213/.337).

* – The 518 kills for Norwalk senior Ellie Hatlevig this season rank third in the state and are the most among any player at the state tournament.

* – Clear Creek Amana is 192-30 over the past five seasons combined and hasn’t lost more than eight matches in any of the past four seasons.

The Schedule

Quarterfinals, November 2

Norwalk vs. Ballard, 4 p.m.

Western Dubuque vs. North Polk, 6 p.m.

Davenport Assumption vs. Waverly-Shell Rock, 4:35 p.m.

Clear Creek Amana vs. Sioux Center, 6:35 p.m.

Semifinals, November 4

Norwalk/Ballard winner vs. Western Dubuque/North Polk winner, Noon

Davenport Assumption/Waverly-Shell Rock winner vs. Clear Creek Amana, Sioux Center winner, 12:35 p.m.

Championship, November 5

Semifinal winners, 12:15 p.m.

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