By: Nathan Bloechl —sports@kilj.com
Three Volleyball Teams Move On Automatically, Other Area Scores:
Winfield-Mount Union and New London both received forfeiture wins to the second round of the Class 1A volleyball tournament, while Mediapolis auto-advanced to round two in the Class 2A field.
Winfield will now take on Burlington Notre Dame, who smashed their way past Wapello last night, 3-0.
The Nikes, 14-5, are one of the hottest teams in Class 1A and will present a sizable challenge to Winfield.
The good news for the Wolves is they’ll host that matchup, with first serve set for 7:00 p.m.
On the same hand, New London received a pseudo-bye after Moulton-Udell informed Tiger officials of positive COVID-19 cases within their program.
The Tigers will now scrap with Moravia after the Mohawks swept Seymour 3-0 in a first round game at Seymour last night.
We’ll have that game on KILJ-AM, Wednesday night.
In Class 2A, Mediapolis also received a forfeiture victory after Danville had to back out of their first round tilt.
The Bullettes will tango with West Branch on the road Wednesday night, with first serve set for 7:00 p.m.
Some other area/regional scores from last night:
- WACO 3, Sigourney 0
- WACO advances to Wednesday’s second round where they will host North Mahaska.
- English Valleys 3, Tri-County 0
- Highland 3, Lone Tree 0
- Highland, now 7-16, will get top-seed Holy Trinity on Wednesday night. Nathan Bloechl will have the call of that contest on KILJ-FM.
- Columbus 3, Pekin 2
SEC Champions Mount Pleasant Open 4A Push in Fort Madison:
The Mount Pleasant volleyball team, playing some of their best volleyball of 2020 will start their postseason push tonight on the road at Fort Madison.
The Panthers, 14-16, will aim to avenge a pair of early season losses against the Bloodhounds this year.
Mount Pleasant lost 3-1 on September 15th and 2-1 just two weeks ago on October 6th.
Fort Madison has won the last 16 meetings between the two programs.
Tonight’s game can be heard on KILJ-FM, Nathan Bloechl will have the call beginning at 7:00 p.m.
Iowa’s Petras Ready for Saturday Opener:
Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz says Spencer Petras is ready to take control of the Hawkeye offense on Saturday against Purdue.
The sophomore signal-caller from California appeared in five games the past two years and takes over for three-year starter Nate Stanley.
“Now that Nate’s gone that certainly opens the door for him. We are really pleased with Spencer, on the field and off the field. The way he works with his teammates.” Ferentz said.
Purdue will be without their head coach Jeff Brohm on Saturday — Brohm tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week.
Iowa has opened as a 3.5 point favorite.
You can listen to Saturday’s game right here on KILJ-FM, with coverage beginning at 12:30 p.m.
NCAA Tournament Coming Back to Iowa:
The NCAA has announced that Des Moines will host first and second round contests of the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament in 2023.
Of course the games will be played at Wells Fargo Arena in downtown Des Moines.
Des Moines successfully hosted the first two rounds of March Madness in 2016 and 2019.