Iowa’s Early Staff Stuffers of 2023

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Weekend one is complete with tournaments across the state being completed.&nbsp; From River to River, teams are starting to get batch of matches in and with that, some names are starting to put up some big numbers.&nbsp; Here are some early season athletes who are making a big impact for their teams.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kills</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='168192' first='Noelle' last='Sutcliffe'] - Norwalk </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Senior - Outside Hitter - Uncommitted</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>No surprise here for Sutcliffe as she was the top returning pin for Norwalk where she is currently leading the state with 109 kills.&nbsp; She has a very active arm, where she can score from anywhere, but she will most likely terminate from the outside. They have had a rugged schedule to start which included a 2-1 loss to a very talented Indianola squad and the Ankeny Centennial Tournament where 14 of the 16 teams were ranked.&nbsp; This strength of schedule will be key for the Warriors as they progress throughout the season with their sights set on Xtream.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kills and Efficiency </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='168170' first='Carlie' last='Willis'] - Grundy Center </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Senior - Outside Hitter - Committed to St. Cloud State</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Willis is right behind Sutcliffe in kills, but what really blew me away was her .558 hitting percentage.&nbsp; Yikes!&nbsp; She's scoring a ton of points and is nearly an automatic kill for her squad.&nbsp; Grundy Center rolled through the West Marshall tournament, but their schedule will have some big matches coming up with South Hardin, North Tama Tournament, and a triangular with Dike-New Hartford and Sumner-Fred.&nbsp; These three teams will be heavy favorites to head to the Class 2A State Tournament.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kills</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='215749' first='Delaney' last='Miller'] - Ankeny Centennial </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Junior - Outside Hitter - Uncommitted</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ankeny Centennial just finished the weekend with one of the toughest tournaments in the state where they defeated four top ten ranked opponents before falling to Dike-New Hartford in the finals.&nbsp; Miller has been putting up big numbers for the Jags and can score from anywhere.&nbsp; She has such a great blend of speed and power and is one of the top uncommitted 2025s in Iowa.&nbsp; They will head to the Iowa City High tournament this weekend and will follow that up with a huge match up with another top 5A team in Dowling.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Assists </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='455727' first='Maggie' last='Van Schepen'] - Western Christian </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sophomore - Setter</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Next one in.&nbsp; Western Christian stays on brand and just reloads after a state championship run in Class 2A in 2022.&nbsp; This year will look a little different with some key players graduated and now being bumped up to Class 3A.&nbsp; The QB1 for this team will be Magge Van Schepen who is currently leading the state in assists.&nbsp; Western just had their annual trip down to Omaha to take on some of the top teams in Nebraska from the large class.&nbsp; They may have lost four matches, but some of these teams are nationally ranked.&nbsp; The Wolfpack is always battle tested by October and will be ready for another state run.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>West Lyon </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Let's add another team to be aware of in Northwest Iowa with West Lyon.  They have multiple players who are top ten in the state in multiple categories.  <strong>Jayla Plotz </strong>leads the state with 26 blocks while <strong>Jordyn Aeschlimen</strong> is in the top ten for kills and total blocks.  <strong>Kyndra Gramstad </strong>is currently second with total digs.  West Lyons competes in the Siouxland which is the top conferences in Western Iowa with more than plenty of traditional powers.  </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Assists </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='455729' first='Sofia' last='Parrott'] - Charles City </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sophomore - Setter</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Charles City is putting themselves back in the conversation to compete for an NEC title and a strong postseason run. They swept their home tournament this past weekend and will have a huge conference match on September 5 when they take on New Hampton.  One of the big catalysts behind this run is setter [player_tooltip player_id='455729' first='Sofia' last='Parrott']. Only a sophomore, she is second in the state in assists and leading Class 4A.  She has three key attackers she's going to in<strong> Keely Anderegg, Mya Rimrod, and [player_tooltip player_id='393706' first='Keely' last='Collins'].  </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Blocks </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='493626' first='Hattie' last='Galloway'] - Iowa City High </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Freshman - Middle Blocker</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I knew Iowa City would be really stacked on the outside with [player_tooltip player_id='251664' first='Claire' last='Ernst'] and [player_tooltip player_id='215434' first='Emmy' last='McComas'], but let's welcome these freshmen in!&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='493626' first='Hattie' last='Galloway'] is leading Class 5A in total blocks right now with 23.&nbsp; She isn't the only freshman on this squad seeing time as Kaitlin Loria has been seeing time too.&nbsp; This group picked up two big wins at the Johnston Quad over Marion and CB Abe Lincoln.&nbsp; They will host their own tournament this weekend with a chance to get some great experience against top competition.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->