Prep Volleyball- The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) released their first rankings of the regular season and two #1 teams fell from their top rankings, while Southeast Iowa kept one team in the top five.
Ankeny Christian is the top team in Class 1A, sporting a 5-1 record. Riverside jumped up three spots from 5th to 2nd in the rankings after a 6-0 start to the season. Making the largest jump was North Tama after starting the season at the #15 slot, the Redhawks now rank 3rd after taking down two ranked teams: Holy Trinity Catholic and formerly ranked in Class 2A Pella Christian. The Crusaders fell two spots on the list from 2nd to 4th but are currently riding a four-game win streak with each win being a sweep. New London was ranked 8th but after their loss to North Mahaska the Tigers are now unranked along with Central City. River Valley and Stanton enter the rankings at #13 and #15, respectively.
In Class 2A, the top three teams in Dike-New Hartford, Hinton, and Grundy Center are all undefeated and ranked the same as last week in that respective order. Eddyville-Blakesburg Fremont essentially switched spots with Denver as the Rockets now ranked 11th and Denver is 7-0 and ranked 4th. Class 2A had the biggest shakeup with four teams getting knocked out of the top 15: Pella Christian (8th), Wilton (13th), Central Lyon (14th), and South Central Calhoun (15th). Regina Catholic enters the rankings at the 10th spot. Aplington-Parkersburg is ranked 13th. Hudson is ranked 15th. Lastly, West Burlington, with a 7-1 record, came into the rankings at the #14 position. The Falcons are led by Taryn Snodgrass with 134 assists and Brenna Beggs and Taryn Havener, who each have a kill efficiency north of 0.420.
Class 3A is where we witness the first #1 team fall from their throne as Des Moines Christian’s loss to Class 4A’s 9th ranked ADM set the Lions back to 3rd. Western Christian and Assumption each moved up one spot, respectively, in the rankings to make up the top three. Beyond that craziness, Class 3A was rather calm with only Estherville Lincoln Central (14th) and Roland-Story (15th) falling out of the top 15. Mid-Prairie barely holds on to the top 15, falling four spots after their loss to West Burlington.
The top eight spots remain the same for Class 4A with Clear Creek-Amana still wearing the crown followed by Indianola and North Scott. Knoxville fell from 9th to 10th and previously mentioned ADM jumped up from 12th to 9th. Again, only two team fell from the rankings in Bishop Heelan (13th) and Waverly-Shell Rock (15th). Sioux Center take Bishop Heelan’s spot and Dallas Center-Grimes jumps up to the #14 slot.
Lastly, Waukee Northwest went from ranked 1st in Class 5A to now ranked 4th. Dowling Catholic is now atop the list followed by Ankeny Centennial and Ankeny, previously ranked 6th and 8th, respectively. Valley had a tough start to the season with a 2-5 record knocking them back six spots to 10th in the rankings. Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln (11th) and Sioux City North (13th) were removed from the top 15 with Cedar Rapids Kennedy taking the #13 slot and Iowa City High being ranked 14th. Muscatine rounds out the top 15, despite touting an 0-2 record.