Class 3A: Regional Final Preview, Players, Predictions

Photo Cred: Chris Zoeller/The Globe Gazette Regional Final, Substate, call it what you want, it's the game to go to state! Class 3A, 4A, and 5A are all set with 1A and 2A playing their regional semifinal games Thursday night. Some teams playing each other are all too familiar, others may not have even heard of each other which makes for a scramble to find information on opponents. However, the volleyball world has about two to three degrees of separation, and the volleyball world in Iowa is probably 1 to 2 with coaches having a healthy network. Here are some of the matchups in Class 3A, with a guide to who might have the edge. Region 1 - #3 MOC-Floyd Valley vs. #14 Spirit Lake @ Sheldon No matter how you draw up the regional lines, the challenge of getting out of Northwest Iowa is always going to go through Sioux County. Spirit Lake will have to contain Sophomore Jazlin De Haan and Zoe Heemstra in the frontline, but also have their own crew of hitters in Emma Loveall, Mikia Kriener, and Jordyn Hamm. Kriener is committed to play at Augustana next year. The Indians also have UNI recruit, Payton Ahrenstorff to lead the charge from the backrow. A great start is key, but I think the second set will be really crucial for Spirit Lake. If they win the first set, can they maintain the momentum throughout the match? If they lose the first set, how will they bounce back? Ticket Punched: Upset Alert…..Spirit Lake Region 2 - #1 Carroll-Kuemper vs. #12 Red Oak @ Atlantic Red Oak has traditionally always been really strong and played a really tough schedule against some of the top teams in Southwest Iowa and in the Des Moines metro, however Kuemper has the experience, and five players with over 100 kills. Kuemper defeated Red Oak earlier in the season, and I’m afraid they might be a little too strong again. Aimee Adams, the South Dakota commit will be tough to stop. Ticket Punched: Carroll-Kuemper Region 3 - #6 Osage vs. #12 Humboldt @ Clear Lake Everyone has jitters heading into a regional final, however, when your going for the third straight regional final win it becomes part of the routine. Osage has traditional that speaks for itself as well as a setter in Rylie Olson who can run the show to fellow Senior Sydney Midlang and Sophomore standout Danielle Johnson they make for a tough team to beat three out of five sets. Osage defeated Humboldt 2-0 just a few weeks ago. Humboldt runs a balanced led by Sophomore Jori Hajek. The Wildcats only have four losses on the year. Ticket Punched: Osage Region 4 - (UR) Union vs. (UR) Clarion-Goldfield-Dows @ Iowa Falls Based on the rankings this was set up to be a Center Point - Urbana and Iowa Falls-Alden regional final. Just to get to this point for these two teams is an accomplishment with Union sweeping CPU and Clarion-Goldfield-Dows winning in the 5th set over conference rival Iowa Falls-Alden. Both teams have some of the top Sophomores in the state with Belle Weber at Union and Morgan Middleton at Clarion-Goldfield-Dows. This is such a toss up, expect a marathon Monday night! Ticket Punched: Union, but expecting it to be five. Region 5: #9 Mount Vernon vs. (UR) Des Moines Christian @ Van Horne Mount Vernon seems to always find a way to put themselves in position to go to the state tournament. Their record is 24-15 at the time of the final rankings, but have played some of the best competition from across the state in the Glenwood Tournament in SW Iowa and the Cedar Rapids Jefferson tournament just down the road. Des Moines Christian has Megan Riddle and Alyson Dexter leading the team in the frontline and has been on a bit of a streak since traveling up to some tough competition in Northwest Iowa at the Western Christian tournament. Ticket Punched: Mount Vernon Region 6: #2 Tipton vs. (UR) Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont @ Grinnell Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont has produced some great players and has had their fair share of state tournament runs, but Tipton is primed and ready for a return to Cedar Rapids. Sommer Daniel is one of the state’s top all around players with just under 400 kills, over 400 assists, and just short of 300 digs. WOW. She is only a Junior and has committed to play at Utah. Tipton lost in the first round of the state tournament to Osage last year and once you have a taste of state you just want to have more. Ticket Punched: Tipton Region 7: #4 Davenport Assumption vs. (UR) Albia @ West Burlington Albia might be a year away with their top leaders in kills all being underclassmen, led by Abbey Griffin with 316 kills so far this season. Assumption has just become a powerhouse in every season of state tournaments, volleyball being the most recent. With Kylie Welch and Anna Vonderhaar leading the way for the Knights, they also have setter Lea Nelson with over 800 assists. Ticket Punched: Davenport Assumption Region 8: #13 New Hampton vs. #7 Camanche @ Cedar Rapids Washington New Hampton has had a year for the record books with over 30 wins and a spot in the regional final. Senior Lauren Frerichs is right near 900 assists and Rachel Rinken with over 300 kills. Camanche is led by six rotation outside hitter Madilynn Parson who has 430 kills on 832 swings. Thats a ridiculous stat for volleyball. Her efficiency is at .431. An outside hitter at .300 would be considered pretty good. Two of Camanche’s losses have come to #2 Tipton. Ticket Punched: Camanche