Iowa Chill: Iowa Teams Keep Cool In Clutch Moments

I’ll admit, I’m a little Iowa bias. As an Iowa native, growing up in North Iowa, I take great pride in my home state and seeing teams succeed at a national level against clubs from much MUCH larger metro areas makes me so proud of what these kids from Iowa can do. The underlying trend is they play very relaxed, they find a way to get it done, and use the blue collar work ethic with a huge slice of modesty to get to these national ranks! Iowa PowerPlex 18 Elite Black PowerPlex wrapped up an 18 Open bid early in the season and have athletes who have been in plenty of pressure situations their whole careers. Not only in club volleyball, but their high school seasons as well as other sports. They are comfortable being in intense, and uncomfortable situations. Kenna Sauer won a state title this past fall with Devyn Robinson and Ari Winters at Ankeny Centennial. Sauer then went on to play at Wells Fargo Arena in the state girls basketball tournament where she was the leading scorer for the Jags. Emily Holterhaus, a UNI commit has been a huge go to athlete in basketball and track. And lets not forget about the other state champion on this team in Kaylee Donner, who won a state bowling title. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <a href="https://x.com/6packvbc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@6packvbc</a> squaring off again <a href="https://x.com/I80BluesVBC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@I80BluesVBC</a> - go figure two Iowa teams play each other in big time matches <a href="https://t.co/RJN0Ja3VJM">pic.x.com/RJN0Ja3VJM</a> — Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) <a href="https://x.com/PrepDigChris/status/1109821733144543232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Six Pack 18-1 They had one more chance, one more chance to punch the ticket to nationals. The Six Pack 18-1 team has been piecing together lineups all year long, but with a full squad this was their time in Indy. Kate Shannon, an Iowa State commit has been going from sport to sport as a top softball player and winning a state title for Waterloo Columbus in 2017 in volleyball. Rylie Olson has played in three state volleyball tournaments, an all area basketball player, and will compete for a chance to run at the state track meet once again for Osage. Brooke Flater of Grundy Center was a standout for Grundy Center’s state runner up basketball team and will play volleyball at Grand View with Olson. Once again, these athletes have been in plenty of pressure situations before and to go in and win a tournament like one in Indy is no easy feat. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> EIX went from having to play back to stay in Gold on Friday to now playing in the final four in 17 Open <a href="https://t.co/LdN57zIqA5">pic.x.com/LdN57zIqA5</a> — Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) <a href="https://x.com/PrepDigChris/status/1109824577306267648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Eastern Iowa Xtreme 17-Teal This team had the potential to be dangerous with a lot of athletes having already committed to Division 1 schools, but when would it all click. After finishing their stacked pool Friday at MEQ, finishing 1-2, they had to play two crossovers to fight their way back into Gold Pool play on Saturday, with their last crossover ending 28-26 in favor of EIX. Fast forward to Sunday and they still had gold intentions being in a gold powerpool with Milwaukee Sting and Sky High (Chicago area), two powerhouse clubs who are always at the top of the JVA ranks. With Aliyah Carter and Kacia Brown always being the big go to hitters on the pin it was the middle play of Justyus Jackson and right side Delaney Rice coming up with big points to put them in the final four. Iowa Rockets 15R These athletes are 15 years old competing against some of the best clubs in the nation. In watching them play at Windy City Power League and this past weekend at MEQ, they just never seem to get phased, you can never tell if they are down or up, they have consistent body language. Macy Daufeldt and Kora Ruff are two big time players for Iowa Rockets, but they have a balance where they play so well together. Calia Clubb and Ella McGlaughlin are two big swings that are able to score in clutch times. A really quietly effective player who just plays it cool and gets the offense started is Gabrielle Schroeder, the libero who commands the backrow. CIS 15M CIS and Iowa Rockets have the ability to play with the best in the country. They have both defeated Skyline Juniors out of Texas which is always one of the top programs in the country. At Triple Crown, CIS kept being big program after big program which included clubs out of Tampa, Cleveland, and Dallas. Makes a place like Des Moines look pretty small. They have Hayden Kubik, the powerful outside, but Lauren Carter is such a leader by example with poise, clear communication, and the ability to just get it done. Everything you want to see in a setter. Carter most recently committed to Denver. CIS and Iowa Rockets will potentially meet this upcoming weekend at the 15s Iowa Regionals.