Prep Volleyball- The road to Xtream Arena in Coralville will get underway on Monday, October 20^th, for Classes 1A and 2A, while Classes 3A, 4A, and 5A will start their journey on Tuesday, October 21^st. Now, teams know who they have to go through first with the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union releasing the Regional Pairings yesterday. Here’s a look at our local matchups.

Class 1A

We will be focused on region 2 for our local teams with #2 Holy Trinity Catholic entering as the #1-seed for the region, thus earning a bye into the second round on October 22^nd.

For the first-round matchups, Winfield-Mt. Union will get to host Pekin, WACO will travel to Burlington Notre Dame, and Wapello will tangle with New London at home with the winners playing against one another. All games will be at 7 pm.

The Wolves have won their last eight games against Pekin, including a four-set victory in late September. The winner will travel to Fort Madison to take on the Crusaders.

WACO will have a tough hill to climb with the Nikes boasting a 10-2 record at home this season with those two losses coming against West Liberty and Holy Trinity Catholic.

Lastly, Wapello has not dropped a set against New London in their last three contests.

On the bottom half of the bracket, Dunkerton is the top seed, but the bracket also includes Clayton Ridge, Turkey Valley, Central Elkader, Edgewood-Colesburg, Kee High, Starmont, and West Central.

For a full look at the bracket, follow this link: Class 1A Region 2 Bracket

Class 2A

Looking at region 8, we have got a trio of local teams to look out for in Danville, Van Buren County, and West Burlington. The Bears will get to play their first-round contest at home against Cardinal, while the Warriors and Falcons will clash on Wednesday, October 22^nd, in Keosauqua.

Danville and Cardinal have not met on the floor since 2022, but the Bears hold the series lead since 2008 with a 14-8 record. Danville’s record does not reflect the skill of the team with five matches going to their tiebreaker set. They have managed to take a set from Holy Trinity Catholic along with Van Buren County and Central Lee.

Danville’s senior libero Graci Huff wants the season to last as long as possible,

“… So I want to just prolong it as much as you can and get as much time with my teammates and my coaches as I can before the seasons over and prove to everybody that we are a good team and show them what we should have been showing them all season.”

After a long time of losing to West Burlington—13 straight matches—Van Buren County snatched the two matches this season by narrow margins, needing a tiebreaker set to decide the final: 15-8 in game one and 16-14 in game two.

The winner between Danville and Cardinal will take on Regina Catholic on Wednesday on the road for the top half of the bracket.

Teams on the bottom half of the bracket: Nashua Plainfield, Central Springs, Sumner-Fredericksburg, South Winneshiek, and Gamer Hayfield Ventura.

For a full look at the bracket, follow this link: Class 2A Region 8 Bracket

Class 3A

Region 2 will get right to the point by pinning Mediapolis against Central Lee on Tuesday, October 21^st, at 7 pm. The Bulldogs will get to host after winning five of the six sets in their two matchups this season.

Overall, Mediapolis holds an 18-2 over Central Lee since 2007. The winner will compete against the winner between Assumption and Camanche on Thursday, October 23^rd, with the Saints entering the region as the top seed.

The bottom half of the bracket will include Wilton, Maquoketa, Wahlert Catholic, and Monticello.

For a full look at the bracket, follow this link: Class 3A Region 2

There will be no meet up—initially—between two Southeast Conference (SEC) foes in region 7 as Fairfield will be in the top half of the bracket, while Washington is set in the bottom half of the bracket.

The Trojans will play on Tuesday at West Liberty with the winner taking on the winner between Mid-Prairie and Davis County. The Comets have dominated the series over Fairfield, earning a 4-0 record in the process with this year’s matchup marking the first time the Trojans have won a set.

Washington will host Benton on Tuesday with the winner taking on Center Point-Urbana and Vinton-Shellsburg. The Demons will be looking for their first win over the Bobcats in their fourth contest against one another.

For a full look at the bracket, follow this link: Class 3A Region 7

Class 4A

A bit of déjà vu for Mt. Pleasant in region 1 as the Panthers will get to host their first-round matchup against a conference opponent with the winner moving on to play a daunting Clear Creek Amana squad.

This year, the Panthers will host Keokuk on Tuesday at 7 pm with KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, on the call. Mt. Pleasant has picked up 34 wins over Keokuk in 42 matches since 2007, including a home sweep in early September.

The Panthers will be leaning on their two senior attackers in Alex Scott and Addison Clark, as the pair combined for 27 kills against the Chiefs.

The bottom half of the bracket will have Xavier, Oskaloosa, and Grinnell.

For a full look at the bracket, follow this link: Class 4A Region 1

We will see another SEC showdown in region 6 with Fort Madison traveling to Burlington on Tuesday at 7 pm. The winner will square off North Scott on Thursday.

The Bloodhounds have dropped their past five matches against the Grayhounds without winning a set.

The bottom half of the bracket will include Independence, Decorah, and Western Dubuque.

For a full look at the bracket, follow this link: Class 4A Region 6

More

KILJ is excited to bring the tournament trail to you live, so stay tuned to find out what game will be calling live as the games draw closer!

High School Volleyball

Danville pushed West Burlington to five sets last night, but the Falcons were able to prevail, winning the tiebreaker 15-9. Kaylee Webb played out of her mind for the Falcons, collecting 31 kills, three blocks, and four aces in the winning effort. 

Danville will host an Invite on Thursday, October 16th, with Burlington Notre Dame and Mt. Pleasant making the trip. 

Burlington Notre Dame collected their sixth consecutive victory last night after sweeping New London (25-14, 25-14, 25-9). Ainsley Conrad dished out 29 assists and five aces, while Addi Brockway tabbed 15 kills in the victory. 

Wapello spoiled Lone Tree’s senior night, allowing just 24 points combined through the three sets. The Arrows tallied 18 aces as Mila Jordan amassed eight aces followed by Taeya Wagner with six aces. Wapello will make the trip to Jefferson High School for the Westside Invite tomorrow, October 11th.

#2 Holy Trinity Catholic swept Central Lee last night by scores of 25-17, 25-23, and 25-21. Taylor Jones nabbed eight kills and three blocks in the loss. The Crusaders will attend the Pella Invite tomorrow.

Van Buren County celebrated their senior night by defeating Mediapolis in straight sets (25-20, 25-13, 25-23). Ellah Wagenbach and Josie Hutcheson combined for 15 kills for the Bulldogs. 

Mediapolis will host a tournament on Thursday at 5 pm with Holy Trinity Catholic participating. 

Central Lee, West Burlington, and Van Buren County will compete in the Davis County Invitational tomorrow.

WACO kept it close but was unable to upset Louisa-Muscatine last night, losing in straight sets 25-17, 25-18, and 26-24. The Warriors will take on Pekin at home on Tuesday, October 14th, for their regular season finale. 

Columbus crushed Highland last night in a sweep (25-14, 25-13, 25-13), as Jessica Del Rio and Kennedy Woepking each swatted 11 kills in the victory. The Wildcats will celebrate their senior night on Tuesday against Hillcrest Academy at 7:30 pm. 

Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield will travel to Oskaloosa for a tournament tomorrow.

High School Cross Country

Columbus hosted the Mike Jay Invitational last night to go along with their senior night, but the WACO boys’ team usurped the Wildcats’ claim as the top team as the Warriors had four of their five runners finish in the top 10.

Starting on the girls’ side, the Columbus girls’ team finished in 2nd place as a team with Iris Garza and Gabi Duran taking 4th and 5th place, respectively. 

Individually, WACO’s Josie Dykstra clocked a silver medal time of 20 minutes and 51 seconds followed by Macie Carter for the bronze. Ashlyn Bender of Winfield-Mt. Union took 16th place and New London’s Irelynn Kelly finished in 21st place. 

On the boys’ side, WACO dominated as Jude Dykstra led the field with the only sub-17 minute time of 16 minutes and 52 seconds. Locken Henderson and Garrett Landau claimed 3rd and 4th place, respectively. Victor Tovar took 6th place for Columbus with a time of 18 minutes and 6 seconds. 

Winfield-Mt. Union and New London finished in 4th and 5th place, respectively, as a team. Bowen Thomson led the Wolves with an 18th place finish, while Natan Bergman crossed the finish line in 20th place. 

Mediapolis held their Invite last night as the boys’ team defended their turf with the individual and team gold, while the Central Lee girls’ team finished on top of the standings with 57 points. 

Starting on the boys’ side, the Bulldogs won with a 21-point buffer as Simon Wendel took the crown with a time of 16 minutes and 34 seconds, while Will Schmidgall finished right behind him with a silver medal time of 16 minutes and 38 seconds.

Cavin Denney’s 4th place time of 17 minutes and 30 seconds helped Notre Dame/West Burlington claim 2nd place as a team. Mt. Pleasant’s Silas Hulett collected the bronze with a time of 16 minutes and 49 seconds as the Panthers took 4th place as a team.

Central Lee finished in 3rd place as a team with Austin Fogarty anchoring the team with an 8th place time of 18 minutes and 25 seconds. Danville was led by Isaac Shinn’s time of 17 minutes and 40 seconds, which put the Bear in 5th place individually and 5th as a team.

On the girls’ side, Mt. Pleasant led the field with Avery Fedler taking the gold with a time of 20 minutes-flat and Quintrie Lee clocking a time of 20 minutes and 7 seconds for the silver; however, Aubree Bunnell and the Hawks had a better team showing, beating the Panthers by six points in the team standings.

Alaina Gourley took home 3rd place with a time of 20 minutes and 16 seconds as the Bears finished in 3rd as a team, one point behind the Panthers. Evie Schmidgall anchored Mediapolis with an 11th place time of 22 minutes and 48 seconds. Individually, Notre Dame/West Burlington’s Hannah Ritter claimed 4th place with a time of 20 minutes and 39 seconds. 

Mt. Pleasant will host the Southeast Conference meet on Thursday, October 16th.

The Southeast Iowa Super Conference will meet at Hillcrest Academy on Tuesday, October 14th.

High School Football

Mt. Pleasant will stay on the road to take on Keokuk tonight at 7:30 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 7:15 pm. Panther head coach John Bowlin will be leaning on his offensive and defensive lines to lead his team to victory,

“They’re going to be tough and obviously got athletes all over the field. They throw the ball around as you see, that’s probably where we struggled the most tonight was defending the past, so we got to get a lot better at that. And you know, our guys know that every week is a big week. And this, you know, our goal is to focus 100% on the opponent of the week and come out 1-0 for that week. So, we got a lot of work to do. But like I said I think we’re growing every week. I think both lines are just getting better and better. So that’s going to be big next week if our line can take care of business, so they’ll, they’ll put us in a good spot to be there in the fourth quarter.”

Mediapolis will tangle with Mid-Prairie tonight at 7 pm on the road. 

Van Buren County will welcome Wapello to town tonight at 7 pm. 

WACO will host Springville tonight at 7 pm. 

Fairfield will travel to Fort Madison tonight at 7:30 pm. 

West Burlington/Notre Dame will look to regroup for their road showdown with West Liberty at 7 pm tonight. 

Central Lee will compete against Wilton at 7 pm tonight on the road. 

Danville will take on Pekin tonight at home to celebrate their senior night at 7 pm. 

Southeastern Community College

The men’s and women’s soccer teams will travel to Central Community College tomorrow, October 11th. 

The volleyball team will host a triangular on Sunday, October 12th. 

College Football

#22 Iowa State will stay on the road as they look to regroup against Colorado tomorrow, October 11th, at 2:30 pm. KILJ 98.5 FM and AM 1130 will be on the call. 

Iowa will travel to Wisconsin tomorrow for kickoff at 6:05 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM will be on the call. 

This Day in Sports History

1916 – In Game 3, Charlie Ebbets becomes the first owner to raise the price of World Series grandstand seats to $5-up from $3.

1960 – Ron Stewart of Ottawa rushes for a Canadian Football League-record 287 yards.

1979 – Nordiques’ Real Cloutier becomes the third player to score a hat trick in their first game.