The “Voice Notes” of the IGHSAU Class 5A Quarterfinals

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>I'm always looking for new angles to provide coverage.</strong> I'm usually a notes app guy, but I'm evolving.&nbsp; I figure today I do a voice to text of what I'm seeing while I'm covering. Don't worry, this will not turn into a podcast, but I thought it would be fun to hear/see what I'm seeing while I watch the Class 5A Quarterfinals of the Iowa State Tournament held at Xtream Arena is Coralville.&nbsp; Always one of my favorite events in all of volleyball. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>*The voice notes have been edited to make sure names are correct as well as teams….and whatever other voice to text glitches I had :) </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Waukee Northwest vs. Pleasant Valley</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Waukee Northwest is doing a nice job of drawing blockers with their middles, which gives their pins a clean matchup. If their middles can score, that makes their pins even tougher to defend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Several players in this match can play multiple positions. [player_tooltip player_id='545971' first='Avery' last='Cordes'] is a middle for Waukee Northwest but also plays pin for her club team, Iowa Premier. [player_tooltip player_id='490011' first='Leah' last='Janulewicz'] is an outside hitter but will also play libero for Iowa PowerPlex and is committed to Drake as a libero<strong>.</strong> [player_tooltip player_id='490015' first='Mazie' last='Sweers'] of Pleasant Valley is predominantly an outside hitter but will also set for Pleasant Valley.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='812248' first='Cassidy' last='Danburg'] is a middle blocker for Northwest who knows how to find the deep corners.&nbsp; The setters of [player_tooltip player_id='730468' first='Lyla' last='Nelson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1006334' first='Kennedy' last='Jackson'] do a nice job of leading their middles away from the block where they have a clean window to terminate. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Cedar Falls vs. Dallas Center-Grimes</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='742408' first='Kinzie' last='Clayton'], the setter for Cedar Falls, has done a really nice job of making smart plays and not trying to do too much. She's crafty.&nbsp; There have been multiple times where she has caught the DCG defense off guard while providing a big block as well. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cedar Falls is so organized right now. They're picking up every tip and reading the opposite side of the net extremely well. This will be a tough spot for Dallas Center-Grimes to bounce back from; they haven't been down very often this season. (I was wrong…they did bounce back)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Start of set two, [player_tooltip player_id='766068' first='Madison' last='Messerly'] of Dallas Center-Grimes is making a good adjustment. She's swinging high and hard off the hands, which is really pulling Cedar Falls out of position. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='729146' first='Anna' last='Jackson'] of Dallas Center-Grimes has really lit a fire on her side of the net, getting Cedar Falls out of system with her serve and leaving them scrambling. It's tough for Cedar Falls to get their middles involved when their first pass is 20 feet off the net.&nbsp; Others from DCG would provide service pressure all set two where Cedar Falls could never catch a break. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='493973' first='Gwen' last='Farley'] has become a key offensive weapon for DCG knowing when and where to attack as a setter.&nbsp; There aren't many setters like Farley who have that type of scoring power in the state. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Start of set three: Cedar Falls will need to pass more cleanly to get [player_tooltip player_id='781517' first='Hadassah' last='Smith'] involved. Dallas Center-Grimes is putting a lot of pressure on them with an aggressive serve.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dallas Center-Grimes is off to the start they wanted, with [player_tooltip player_id='730390' first='Ava' last='Smid'] serving aggressively and Cedar Falls running all over the place. Their pins are also swinging big. 6–1 run.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='389853' first='Kennedy' last='Krecklow'] of Cedar Falls plays with such a high volleyball IQ. She doesn't try to do too much with the ball; she finds the deep corner and the roll shots. You can tell she's played a lot of volleyball.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Clayton for Cedar Falls is doing a nice job feeding [player_tooltip player_id='781517' first='Hadassah' last='Smith']. Dallas Center-Grimes is ready for her with at least two blockers in her face, and she's still finding ways to score. Smith has a violent attack, she is going to cause chaos and there is so much pressure on the defense when the ball is going to her. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='729146' first='Anna' last='Jackson'] of Dallas Center-Grimes really has [player_tooltip player_id='389853' first='Kennedy' last='Krecklow']'s number. She's reading her well from left back, which is forcing Kreklow to explore other options.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Dowling Catholic vs. Iowa City West</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dowling's libero, Audree Gerke has done a really nice job of taking pace off [player_tooltip player_id='360642' first='Sophia' last='Austen']'s swings in set one. She'll be key against the likes of Sopha Austin and [player_tooltip player_id='754657' first='Cyan' last='Blommer'], who hits with so much pace from the outside.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='500340' first='Kaylie' last='Klein'] of Dowling, a Santa Clara commit, is a six-rotation outside. She's not afraid to swing hard, especially from the back row. She just has a knack for scoring points. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This is my first chance to see Haylie Reinders of Dowling in the middle. She's only a freshman, but she's really physical and athletic and knows how to find the corner of the court</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Iowa City West starts set two really strong with Josephine Austen serving. She's putting a lot of pressure on Dowling's serve receive, which lets the Trojans run on all cylinders on offense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both teams are doing a really good job of covering the block. That lets their hitters swing big knowing they'll have coverage, and both teams have had plenty of recycled opportunities for another swing.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The blocking by both West and Dowling has been so impressive. Their footwork is really good and their hands are clean. Players are trying to swing high hands, and attackers are having to get a little crafty about how they score.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The start of set two West is playing so clean. They're able to get the ball high so their attackers can swing big out of system. Their defense is also really organized, and they seem to be communicating well on the court.&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='540833' first='Izzie' last='McDonald'] has been so solid as the libero in leftback, but [player_tooltip player_id='360642' first='Sophia' last='Austen'] and [player_tooltip player_id='754657' first='Cyan' last='Blommer'] are reading really well out of middle back.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Iowa City West is definitely setting the tone in set three. Dowling is passing really well, but West just has an answer for all their attacks.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We're not even halfway through Set 3 and [player_tooltip player_id='754657' first='Cyan' last='Blommer'] has 12 kills. She keeps finding the seam of the block or tooling it.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When West gets in system, they're doing a nice job of feeding their middle, [player_tooltip player_id='533845' first='Taylor' last='Otte'], who has been highly efficient.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Post Match Thoughts (Not Voice Text)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Waukee Northwest did what they were supposed to do despite a scare from PV in set three.&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='490013' first='Logan' last='Vogt'] is at another level where her athleticism is just different.&nbsp; Seeing Vogt, [player_tooltip player_id='493601' first='Piper' last='Ladwig'], and [player_tooltip player_id='360642' first='Sophia' last='Austen'] today has to have Iowa State feeling pretty good about their incoming class. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='781517' first='Hadassah' last='Smith'] of Cedar Falls was impressive.&nbsp; Her athleticism and physicality makes her one of the top 2029s in the state and she will get some national recruiting attention.&nbsp; DCG knew she was coming and could commit two, sometimes three blockers on her. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>DCG and Cedar Falls was what you want in a high school volleyball match, any match.&nbsp; Both of these teams were playing chess with each other with how they would adjust their defense, the attackers were able to find open spots, and at the end of the day it came down to the serve and serve receive game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='360642' first='Sophia' last='Austen'] defended her home turf.&nbsp; The Iowa City West senior was impressive with 28 kills in a five set win over Dowling.&nbsp; She went off in set five where setter [player_tooltip player_id='555736' first='Lila' last='Eastvold'] kept feeding her because she continuously found ways to score points. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Today was a feel good of high school sports.&nbsp; Student sections showed out, schools were joining each other's student sections.&nbsp; There were no blowouts, even though Waukee NW won 3-0, PV was right there in set three. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I wasn't able to see much of the Ankeny vs. Ankeny Centennial match.&nbsp; Stuck around for the end the West v. Dowling match and got “Hangry”. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thank you for a great day at the IGHSAU State Volleyball Tournament. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->