PD Iowa Team Rankings: Class 5A Week 1 Super 16

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Get 30% off your first billing cycle with code:&nbsp;howe30&nbsp;in the coupon code area</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://prepdig.com/2026/08/pd-iowa-team-rankings-class-5a-preseason-super-16/" data-type="link" data-id="https://prepdig.com/2026/08/pd-iowa-team-rankings-class-5a-preseason-super-16/"><strong>PD Iowa Team Rankings: Class 5A Preseason Super 16</strong></a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And, we're off. The high school volleyball season officially got underway last week. The journey to crowing state champions during early November in Coralville began in earnest.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While teams will decide it on the court, predicting who they will be is a fun exercise, for me, and, hopefully, you. We love rankings!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I'll be ranking teams in the state's largest class, 5A, each Monday (or Tuesday morning) throughout the season. Here's how I see it one week into the new campaign:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>1.</strong>&nbsp;<strong>Waukee Northwest</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The thing about 5A volleyball rankings is they are very fluid. (Most) good teams lose matches. That's the case with Waukee Northwest, which dropped a 2-1 decision to Valley in the Marj White Kickoff Classic at Valley Stadium last week. Yet, there's no consideration of moving the defending champs out of the No. 1 spot this week. The Wolves won the rest of their matches within a tough schedule, including triumphs against Valley, Centennial, Liberty, Ankeny, Western Christian and Assumption. [player_tooltip player_id='490013' first='Logan' last='Vogt']<a href="https://prepdig.com/player/logan-vogt/"></a> led the way with 60 kills (.272) in 19 sets during the week. [player_tooltip player_id='493601' first='Piper' last='Ladwig']<a href="https://prepdig.com/player/piper-ladwig/"></a>, [player_tooltip player_id='490011' first='Leah' last='Janulewicz']<a href="https://prepdig.com/player/leah-janulewicz/"></a> and [player_tooltip player_id='545971' first='Avery' last='Cordes'] teamed up to terminate 123 points. [player_tooltip player_id='555820' first='London' last='Taylor'] came up with 63 digs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2. Ankeny</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Hawks hang in there at No. 2 in the poll after a week of play. They fell to top-ranked Waukee Northwest and by a 2-1 score against Western Christian. They also beat Waukee, Pleasant Valley, Dowling and Assumption. [player_tooltip player_id='730419' first='Hailey' last='Wiederin'] collected a team-best 83 kills (.415) in 20 sets, while [player_tooltip player_id='555797' first='Marlee' last='Ellison'] added 56. [player_tooltip player_id='732859' first='Elle' last='Isaacson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='992194' first='Quinn' last='Roush'] combined for 66 kills, and Kellen Roush handed out 157 assists. [player_tooltip player_id='758787' first='Katelyn' last='Mescher'] picked up 60 digs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>3. Dowling Catholic</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dowling Catholic remains at No. 3 with a week behind us. The Maroons' lone loss during the week came against second-ranked Ankeny by a 2-1 margin, including a 16-14 spread in the third set. They also recorded victories against Norwalk, Cedar Falls, Mount Vernon and Mid-Prairie. [player_tooltip player_id='730098' first='Caroline' last='Crane'] paced a balanced Dowling attack with 52 kills (.460) in 16 sets. [player_tooltip player_id='500340' first='Kaylie' last='Klein'], [player_tooltip player_id='763850' first='Gianna' last='Stanfel'] and [player_tooltip player_id='845755' first='Kennedy' last='Klein'] combined for 104 kills. Katie Muller piled up 19.0 blocks to go with 16 kills.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>4. Dallas Center-Grimes</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This is the part of the rankings where it gets tricky. Small sample sizes are uneven. Dallas Center-Grimes moves up one spot to No. 4 following an unbeaten first week. The performance included wins against Indianola, Marion, Hinton, Johnston, Ames and Cherokee. [player_tooltip player_id='991341' first='Madison' last='Messerly']'s 59 kills (.344) in 18 sets were the most for the Mustangs, while [player_tooltip player_id='394331' first='Maggie' last='Leifker'] was right behind her with 58 (.526). [player_tooltip player_id='730390' first='Ava' last='Smid'] and [player_tooltip player_id='443085' first='Avery' last='Edgington'] together added 73 kills. [player_tooltip player_id='493973' first='Gwen' last='Farley'] collected 185 assists, 65 digs and 15 kills. [player_tooltip player_id='729146' first='Anna' last='Jackson'] had 61 digs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5. Pleasant Valley</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The fifth spot in the rankings is the most difficult one to pin down this week. A case can be made for several teams in this tier. I'm going with PV, a team that topped previous No. 4, Iowa City West, and also took down Western Christian and Cedar Rapids Kennedy. It lost to Ankeny, and by a 2-1 scores against Waukee and Cedar Falls, but the wins earned the Spartans this spot, at least for this week. [player_tooltip player_id='490015' first='Mazie' last='Sweers'] and [player_tooltip player_id='555746' first='Clare' last='Yeggy'] each produced 55 kills in 20 sets. [player_tooltip player_id='555773' first='Liv' last='Barudin'] and [player_tooltip player_id='773976' first='Rachel' last='McCaulley'] teamed up for 49 kills, and [player_tooltip player_id='493657' first='Addison' last='Allaman'] came up with 43 digs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>6. Iowa City West</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>7. WDM Valley</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>8. Waukee</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>9. Ankeny Centennial</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>10. Iowa City Liberty</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>11. Indianola</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>12. Cedar Falls</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>13. Bettendorf</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>14. North Scott</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>15. Cedar Rapids Kennedy</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>16. Iowa City High</strong> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->