Class 5A – What High School Programs Are Gaining Momentum This Club Season?
Open gyms are running, meetings are posted for summer schedules and all those going out for volleyball, and the foundation for the 2019 Iowa high school volleyball season is being constructed. Throughout the club season, changes and improvement in player…
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Continue ReadingOpen gyms are running, meetings are posted for summer schedules and all those going out for volleyball, and the foundation for the 2019 Iowa high school volleyball season is being constructed. Throughout the club season, changes and improvement in player development start shaping what the high school season will look like. Obviously, coaches, athletes, and the media look at the accolades from the previous season and who will be returning, but that is not always what the story reads in how the offseason is panning out. Here are a few observations in what high school programs are building some major momentum for the summer and fall.
Kacia Brown of Cedar Falls.Class 5A
Cedar Falls was the team to beat all of 2018 and rightfully so with the likes of Kacia Brown, Alayna Yates, and Emerson Green as well as Seniors Dara Hulstein and Ashley Schildroth. Brown has been a go to pin hitter for Eastern Iowa Xtreme, teaming up with other fellow Mississippi Valley Conference athletes while Yates and libero, Kirsten Graves have been on the Six Pack 17-1 team that has finished very high in national qualifiers, earning a 17 Open bid for USAV Nationals in Indy. Green, a top five player in the Class of 2020 for basketball in Iowa, has also spent time tearing it up on the track this spring running in the Drake Relays.
What about for West Des Moines? I’d like to preface this with if Dowling and Valley were in any other state, they would always have to go through each other to get to the state tournament as well as Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial. Most states would never let two dominant programs from the same city both get to the state tournament. Valley will be looking to fill the void of Madi Kubik who will be playing at Nebraska, but Hayden Kubik has had a big time club season for Central Iowa Select (CIS) 15M while Olivia Curry, Jacey Spann, and Payton Lombardi all playing together on the CIS 17s team. There is also another standout Lombardi coming up the ranks in Olivia Lombardi who has been playing with Kubik on the CIS 15’s team.
West Des Moines Dowling will be looking to make a return trip to the state tournament and break into the final four and beyond. While returning almost their whole squad from the 2018 state tournament team, they have athletes across all classes who have had a really strong club season. Allena Shimon who has committed to St. Cloud State is returning after recording over 500 assists her Junior year has been playing with returning kill leader in Anna Godfredson for IPVA 17 Black. CIS 16M has had a strong season with a national bid wrapped up with the likes of Sophia Panovich setting and Anna Flynn, a rock solid and dependable libero, and Piper Kirchoff a solid attacker as well on this team. Freshman standout Calliope Coppola will be coming back from an injury and will be another big option for the Maroons after having a breakout year as a Freshman.
Curry (Valley), Nelson (Waukee), and Spann (Valley) for CISAnkeny and Waukee will be two more Central Iowa powers that will be looking to build off of 2018 success. Ankeny is lead by Prep Dig’s top player in the Class of 2021 in Phyona Schrader who has been playing for Nebraska Premier, one of the top 16s team in the nation this club season. Schrader has committed to playing at Notre Dame following high school. They also return Malea Daugherty on the pin playing her club ball with IPVA along with Isabelle Vacek who committed to Wayne State and was on the CIS 18s team. Libero, Kaci Behrens who had over 500 digs last fall was on IPVA as well.
Waukee will be back with Layanna Green who has been tearing up the 16s level for CIS as a really high motor, fast twitch middle who can get from pin to pin blocking and can terminate as well. Kate Nelson has been another 2020 prospect on the rise this club season being a terminal pin hitter for CIS 17 M.
Who Makes a Push For The State Tournament?
Well, how do you draw the lines for regionals? One team that is high on the radar will be Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln. With Elaina Bohnet, a 2nd Team All State athlete on the pin as well as setter, Sam Christiansen, who had 1000 sets in 2018 they are going to be a sneaky team out of Southwest Iowa. With a loaded Senior class, this could be a big year for the Lynx. Many of these athletes have gotten some solid offseason reps playing for SWI out of Council Bluffs. Last year they ran into Dowling Catholic in the postseason, but again, the IGHSAU does not have their regional lines in concrete, they will find the best eight teams to compete at state.
Dubuque Hempstead will be looking to make a comeback this season with Jada Wills, the Drake recruit who has been a huge part of the success for Six Pack on the pin. The Mustangs will also have Corrine Meier who has been providing a big swing for Dubuque Sting. These two will be returning along with all the other top attackers.
The Quad Cities could turn out to be an interesting mix of teams. Davenport North will have Justyus Jackson, a Tulsa commit and another new commit in future Iowa Hawkey Bailey Ortega back for their Senior year. Olivia Falborg will be coming back as a Sophomore while she spent this club season playing for Iowa Rockets. Pleasant Valley will be returning a few Iowa Rockets, Platform Elite, and Iowa Select athletes starting with 2022 setter, Kora Ruff running the show dishing to Erica Brohm (Purdue-NW), Emily Wood, Kaitlyn Morgan, and Ilah Perez-Johnson. PV is coming off a strong season, but ran into Linn-Mar in the Regional Final. One potential gamechanger could be if Davenport North drops to Class 4A, they are right on the borderline between the two classes.
Oh, and welcome to Class 5A Iowa City Liberty. Liberty will have a full school and will be part of Mississippi Valley Conference, one major addition to the volleyball team will be Rylee Fay who is a top Class of 2020 setter who has committed to Missouri State. How will this affect the rest of the Iowa City volleyball landscape and the MVC?
Stay tuned for more articles on each class and their offseasons as well as how potential enrollment changes and classifications could make a big change in the state tournament landscape.