Class 5A Team Rankings Update 9/2/24

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://prepdig.com/2024/08/prep-dig-iowa-class-5a-preseason-rankings/">Preseason 5A Rankings</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>1. Pleasant Valley (6-1): </strong>We thought it was going to be another wild ride in 5A. Week 1 of the season provided signs that could very well be the case. Despite the Spartans losing to the host, 2-0, at Saturday's Ankeny Centennial tournament, they remained in the top position because of the wackiness that went on behind them in the rankings. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>PV won all six sets in dispatching of Norwalk, WDM Valley and Ankeny Christian in its first three matches at Centennial. The Spartans topped Cedar Rapids Prairie and Kennedy along with Iowa City West in a home tournament on Thursday. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prep Dig '26 No. 1 [player_tooltip player_id='243182' first='Isabelle' last='Kremer'] has started strong, hitting .452 with 57 kills. [player_tooltip player_id='508627' first='Stella' last='Smith'], [player_tooltip player_id='261085' first='Maren' last='Ouellette'] and [player_tooltip player_id='215760' first='Gabriella' last='Ragins'] each has at least 20 kills with Smith and Ragins combining for 19.0 blocks. Senior setter Lauren Brohm has 73 assists with 24 digs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>This Week –</strong> 9/3 vs Central DeWitt</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2. Dowling Catholic (6-1):</strong> The Maroons did what PV could not - beat Centennial Saturday. They lost to Ankeny Christian, however, to keep the No. 2 ranking for another week. They defeated Council Bluffs Lincoln, Linn-Mar, Waukee Northwest and Cedar Falls during the tournament after gaining a 3-0 victory at Norwalk on Tuesday. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior setter [player_tooltip player_id='215412' first='Ella' last='Rogers'] ammassed 70 assists, and libero [player_tooltip player_id='189864' first='Annalise' last='Grant'] accumulated 36 digs during the first week. [player_tooltip player_id='500340' first='Kaylie' last='Klein'] and [player_tooltip player_id='215724' first='Siri' last='Beecher'] delivered 22 and 21 kills, respectively, and [player_tooltip player_id='215427' first='Ava' last='Groeteke'] recorded 17 kills and 12.0 blocks. [player_tooltip player_id='389933' first='Ellie' last='Muller']'s 14.0 blocks led the team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>This Week – </strong>9/3 at Urbandale, 9/7 at WDM Valley tournament </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>3. Ankeny (7-1):</strong> Another participant in the Centennial tournament, the Hawks defeated Dike-New Hartford, Sioux City East, Cedar Falls and Waukee Northwest before falling against Ankeny Christian in the championship semifinals. Ankeny defeated the Eagles along with Dike-New Hartford and North Polk in its own event on Tuesday. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='215465' first='Reagan' last='Hanfelt']'s 53 kills in Week 1 led teammates [player_tooltip player_id='204525' first='Kamryn' last='Scheib'] by one, Olivia Eike by three and [player_tooltip player_id='443093' first='Maya' last='Ridgeway'] by 6. Setter Miya Steinkamp registered 94 assists with 33 digs, while [player_tooltip player_id='207016' first='Baileigh' last='Carlsen'] racked up 98 digs. Hanfelt had 27.0 blocks, and [player_tooltip player_id='215747' first='Ilana' last='Coleman'] posted 44 digs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>This Week – </strong>9/3 at WDM Valley, 9/7 at Valley tournament</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>4. Ankeny Centennial (4-2):</strong> The Jaguars' record reflects what's been entered into Bound. As mentioned earlier in this writeup, they knocked off No. 1 PV and lost against Dowling. They also beat Indianola, Bettendorf and Iowa City Liberty, while dropping another match to Waukee. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='215464' first='Delaney' last='Miller'] has 49 kills in the matches listed on Bound, while [player_tooltip player_id='215425' first='Jaeden' last='Pratt'] has 42. Libero [player_tooltip player_id='261088' first='Mya' last='Lei-Butters'] has 51 digs, and [player_tooltip player_id='389060' first='Tatem' last='Schmidt'] and Maegen Cheeseman did well sharing the setting. Sophomore middle Sophia Heither led the squad with 12.0 blocks to go with 20 kills. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>This Week – </strong>9/7 at Iowa City High tournament </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5. Cedar Falls: </strong>The Tigers joined the fun at Centennial, winning matches against Sioux City East and Dike-New Hartford before falling to Ankeny and Dowling, which it took the distance. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Setter [player_tooltip player_id='261058' first='Brynn' last='Bakula'] is off a strong start with 76 assists and 25 digs, while libero [player_tooltip player_id='389010' first='Annistyn' last='Wedgbury'] has 61 digs. [player_tooltip player_id='215408' first='Grace' last='Hannam'] paces the team in kills (33) and blocks (15.0), [player_tooltip player_id='389853' first='Kennedy' last='Krecklow'] has 26 kills and 26 digs, and [player_tooltip player_id='523167' first='Natalie' last=''] Schmadeke has 13 kills and 13.0 blocks. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2023 Finish –</strong> 9/3 vs Waterloo West </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>6.</strong> <strong>Indianola (7-1):</strong> After dropping a five-setter against visiting Centennial last Tuesday, Indianola won seven matches in a row, mostly against smaller schools. [player_tooltip player_id='215466' first='Aspen' last='Nelsen'], one of top all-arounds in the state, contributed 87 assists, 37 kills and 38 digs. Libero [player_tooltip player_id='215469' first='Maci' last='Lerseth'] collected 42 digs, and [player_tooltip player_id='215470' first='Camryn' last='Overton'] shined with 56 kills and 26 digs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>This Week –</strong> 9/3 at Pella Christian </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>7. Waukee (2-2): </strong>The Warriors started fast at Centennial on Saturday. They knocked off Liberty and the host school to start the day 2-0 before finishing it with losses against Bettendorf and Ankeny Christian. [player_tooltip player_id='443092' first='Malia' last='Rogers'] led Waukee with 29 kills, while [player_tooltip player_id='500115' first='Maggie' last='Craig'] pounded out 24. [player_tooltip player_id='443125' first='Liv' last='Davis'] handed out 76 assists to go with 2 digs, and Teagan Mash picked up 25 digs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>This Week</strong> – 9/5 vs Johnston, 9/7 at Valley tournament</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>8. Waukee Northwest (2-2):</strong> The defending state champions began the Centennial tournament with victories against Linn-Mar and Council Bluffs before losing in the maximum three sets against Dowling and Ankeny. It was a good first step for a team with a lot of inexperience. [player_tooltip player_id='490013' first='Logan' last='Vogt'] (35), Avery Cortes (22) and [player_tooltip player_id='493601' first='Piper' last='Ladwig'] (20) led the way in kills. [player_tooltip player_id='389019' first='Avery' last='Vogt'] dished out 75 assists, while sophomores [player_tooltip player_id='490011' first='Leah' last='Janulewicz'] (27) and [player_tooltip player_id='555820' first='London' last='Taylor'] (26) were tops in digs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>This Week –</strong> 9/3 at Centennial, 9/7 at Valley tournament </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>9. Sioux City East (3-2):</strong> The Raiders experienced a rocky start at Centennial, losing their first two matches of the day to Cedar Falls and Ankeny. They responded with wins against Dike-New Hartford, Iowa City Liberty and Norwalk.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>This Week:</strong> 9/3 at Sioux City North, 9/5 Sioux City East tournament </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>10. Iowa City Liberty (2-3):</strong> The Lightning faced a challenging schedule at Centennial. Liberty picked up wins against Bettendorf and Valley, and lost against Waukee, Centennial and Sioux City East. [player_tooltip player_id='215429' first='Asta' last='Hildebrand'] filled the stat sheet with 31 assists, 36 kills, 26 digs and 3.0 blocks. [player_tooltip player_id='497594' first='Lucy' last='Maassen'] (32 kills) and [player_tooltip player_id='273001' first='Ellie' last='Wilson'] (15) attacked well, [player_tooltip player_id='316419' first='Edie' last='Miller'] posted 64 digs and her twin sister, [player_tooltip player_id='316380' first='Hadley' last='Miller'], piled up 52 assists and 29 digs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>This Week: </strong>9/3 at Xavier, 9/7 at Valley tournament </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Dropped Out:</strong> WDM Valley</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->