Top Tournaments, Top Competition Week 1 in Iowa

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Where top teams go, others tend to follow.&nbsp; This is opening week of matches for Iowa high school volleyball teams and it will be highlighted by plenty of top teams in action across the state (and even into Nebraska).&nbsp; We are going to take a look at a few locations that will be interesting to keep tabs on when it comes to top teams colliding and starting to make opening weekend statements.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":609653,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/08/DSC03863.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-609653"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Ankeny celebrating a point at the state tournament. </figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Ankeny Centennial Tournament </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ranked Teams&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pleasant Valley - 5A #1</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dowling - 5A #2</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ankeny Centennial - 5A #3</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cedar Falls - 5A #4</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ankeny - 5A #5</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Iowa City Liberty - 5A #7</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Waukee Northwest - 5A #9</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Linn-Mar - 5A #10</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>West Des Moines Valley - 5A #11</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Waukee - 5A #12</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bettendorf - 5A #13</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Council Bluffs Abe Lincoln - 5A #14</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Norwalk - 4A #10</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dike-New Hartford - 2A #6</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ankeny Christian - 1A #1</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This tournament is always a gauntlet of teams from across the state who typically put themselves in position to play some big matches in October and early November with their season at stake.&nbsp; 12 of the top 15 teams in Class 5A will be in the house with defending champions from 2A in Dike-New Hartford and 1A state champs Ankeny Christian.&nbsp; With the IGHSAU seeding the top eight teams into their own regional with the potential to host a regional final and even seeding at state tournament seeding every match matters for these teams.&nbsp; Iowa City Liberty, Pleasant Valley, Sioux City East, and Council Bluffs Abe Lincoln don't always get a chance to see these Central Iowa teams, it will be a chance for them to send a message.&nbsp; As for Central Iowa, this is going to be interesting to monitor in regards to which ones out of this group can get a top seed in a regional.&nbsp; Playing a regional final at home is much more appealing than heading a couple hours to the likes of Council Bluffs, Pleasant Valley, Iowa City, Dubuque, or Cedar Falls.&nbsp; We will take a closer look at this event and some of the events closer to Friday.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":609654,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/08/DSC04430.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-609654"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Denver at the Class 2A State Tournament</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Bondurant-Farrar Tournament</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Indianola - 5A #6</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pella - 4A #11</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Denver - 2A #1</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wapsie Valley - 2A #4</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Holy Trinity Catholic - 1A #2</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>North Tama - 1A #3</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On the other side of the Des Moines Metro, Bondurant-Farrar will be hosting a strong core of teams from multiple classes.&nbsp; Indianola headlines this group of teams where they are ranked sixth in Class 5A where they were the Class 4A runner-up finishers in 2023.&nbsp; They have a lethal senior class that has racked up plenty of wins together.&nbsp; Pella is ranked in Class 4A and will be led by [player_tooltip player_id='389942' first='Katie' last='Scheckel'] who had nearly 400 kills and 400 assists in 2023. Denver and Wapsie Valley will be making the trip down from the Cedar Valley.&nbsp; Denver heads into the season with the number one rankings and rightfully so.&nbsp; They return plenty from their final four finish in Class 2A.&nbsp; Setter [player_tooltip player_id='389012' first='Channing' last='Johnson'] is one of the top setters in 2A where she can do it all from defending, dishing, and being a physical presence at the net.&nbsp; She will look to the Mullihan Twins, [player_tooltip player_id='389009' first='Grace' last='Mullihan'] and [player_tooltip player_id='389017' first='Bailey' last='Mullihan'] who can attack and score from anywhere in the front row.&nbsp; Wapsie Valley returns their setter in [player_tooltip player_id='508661' first='Avery' last='Jones'] who had over 1,000 assists in 2023 and attacker [player_tooltip player_id='389936' first='Taylor' last='Buhr'] who had nearly 400 kills last season.&nbsp; Class 1A perennial powers will look to make a statement with Holy Trinity out of the Fort Madison area and North Tama.&nbsp; They have plenty of state tournament experience. Holy Trinity returns [player_tooltip player_id='320104' first='Presley' last='Myers'] who had over 300 kills as a sophomore.&nbsp; North Tama will return setter Zoey Rausch and high powered attacker [player_tooltip player_id='389013' first='Kruiz' last='Ewoldt']. Ewoldt had just short of 400 kills in 2023 and will be one of the top attackers in Class 1A.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":609655,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/08/DSC04333.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-609655"/></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Mount Vernon and Western Christian to Omaha</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Western Christian has always made it part of their schedule to head to Omaha and take on some of the top teams in Nebraska and now Mount Vernon will be joining the party. This will be a tournament hosted by Bellevue West.&nbsp; Western Christian defeated Mount Vernon in the Class 3A state title match in 2023 and both teams will be gearing up for another huge season that will be filled with a schedule full of top teams. Notable Nebraska teams that will be in attendance:&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Papillion-LaVista - Class A (Largest Class) - State Runner-Up</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bellevue West - Class A - Final Four</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Omaha Westside - Class A - Quarterfinalist</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Papillion-LaVista South - Class A - Quarterfinalist</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Omaha Skutt Catholic - Class B - State Champion</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Elkhorn North - Class B - Final Four</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":609656,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/08/DSC04237.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-609656"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Cherokee at the state tournament. </figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Unity Christian Tournament </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sioux City Heelan - 4A #2</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sergeant Bluff-Luton 4A #15</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cherokee 3A #9</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hinton 2A #7</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In Northwest Iowa, Unity Christian will be hosting teams with plenty of state tournament experience.&nbsp; Sioux City Heelan is coming into 2024 with a high powered attack that will be led by senior [player_tooltip player_id='217136' first='Maliyah' last='Hacker'] who has a loaded resume of accolades where she had 460 kills in her junior season.&nbsp; Sergeant Bluff-Luton will be looking to get back to the state tournament after a few years off and will look to be led by [player_tooltip player_id='389844' first='Breanna' last='VanDenTop'] who is a high powered junior attacker.&nbsp; Cherokee was a state tournament team in 2023 and will be returning top senior attackers in [player_tooltip player_id='508655' first='Laney' last='Wolfswinkel'] and [player_tooltip player_id='730843' first='Keylee' last='Gregg'].&nbsp; Hinton is no secret where they will be coming after teams with Creighton commit [player_tooltip player_id='389079' first='Bailey' last='Boeve'] who will be an option everywhere on the court. Another attacker to keep tabs on for Hinton is [player_tooltip player_id='552898' first='Karlyn' last='Kovarna'] who had a big sophomore year and could expect a large role for this upcoming season.&nbsp; Southwest Christian out of Minnesota and Sioux Falls Christian out of South Dakota will be making the trip to Orange City.&nbsp; Both of these teams are highly competitive in their classes in Minnesota and South Dakota.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->