Top Athletes and Predictions for Pool B at Centennial Early Bird Invite
Title Photo: Megan Witte of Council Bluffs Lewis Central (Photo Cred: Tom Knapp BH Media Group) After taking a look at Pool A of the Ankeny Centennial Early Bird Invite earlier this week, there was enough talent those four teams…
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Continue ReadingTitle Photo: Megan Witte of Council Bluffs Lewis Central (Photo Cred: Tom Knapp BH Media Group)
After taking a look at Pool A of the Ankeny Centennial Early Bird Invite earlier this week, there was enough talent those four teams to fill a whole tournament. With three more pools to preview and another week to go, we are looking forward to starting match play in Iowa. Pool B will feature a little bit of everything with some interesting matchups with a lot of question marks. Ankeny Centennial will be returning off a Class 5A state title, but lost of their key players to graduation. Waukee, another state team from 2018 will be extremely athletic and will be joined by Council Bluffs Lewis Central and Nevada who always have strong teams and overall programs.
- Ankeny Centennial
- Waukee
- Lewis Central
- Nevada
Ankeny Centennial – I haven’t dug into whether or not Devyn Robinson will be in action for this tournament considering five days after she will be in Egypt playing with the USA Youth National Team which she did so in 2018, bringing home a gold medal. Robinson will be back along with Calea Jones, but this will be a time for Centennial to bring up the next group of top athletes. The first month of the season might be a little rough to Centennial with all of the newness and change, but give them time to develop a team chemistry and they will be back to competing with top teams.
Waukee – This team is coming off a 2018 state tournament along with some athletes who had some really big offseasons. South Dakota State recruit and outside hitter Kate Nelson is a high flyer who will take a bulk of the swings this season. Layanna Green is one of the top overall athletes in the Class of 2021 after winning the state high jump title in Class 5A. She is so dynamic out of the middle and can really do some special things offensively and defensively. They will have to replace the points from Haley Bush on the outside who has graduated and now playing at Drake.
Lewis Central – Don’t forget about the schools from the Missouri River Conference. Lewis Central is going to have a really dangerous in 2019 returning their top attackers starting with Megan Witte who had nearly 500 kills as a Junior followed by Delaney Esterling who had over 200. They will also return their top setters in Natalie Driver and Karly Brown. The Titans are going to be a team to beat out of Southwest Iowa and this might be a big chance for them to make a statement.
Nevada – The Cubs had a strong summer, winning the Minnesota-Duluth team camp. They will return four of their top attackers who all had over 100 kills starting with Kacie Rewerts who earned All American Honors for IPVA and will be heading to Drake for volleyball. Rewerts is one of the top all around athletes in Central Iowa.
So What Happens?
Waukee would be the favorite based on their success last year heading to the state tournament and returning high caliber athletes in Nelson and Green. However, I am going to go with Lewis Central in this pool. They return virtually their full squad, their top attackers and setters and if they can pass they should be able to really get into system and do some damage. Nevada I think will be the wildcard here who will put a scare into each team. It will come down to who can close when scores get tight.
Predicted Pool Standings
- Lewis Central
- Waukee
- Nevada
- Ankeny Centennial (this changes is Devyn Robinson is town)