Xavier Volleyball

Prairie jumps to 6th in volleyball

Cedar Rapids Prairie climbed four spots to No. 6 in the Class 5A volleyball rankings Thursday by the IGHSAU.

The Hawks (17-7) were ranked 10th a week ago and are the only Metro school in the 5A rankings.

The Marion Indians (23-3) held onto the No. 3 spot in the Class 4A poll. The Xavier Saints (13-11) dropped from 11th to 15th in the 4A rankings.

CLASS 4A

1. Harlan (22-1), 2. West Delaware (29-0), 3. Marion (23-3), 4. Sioux City Heelan (18-8), 5. Clear Creek-Amana (17-6), 6. Charles City (26-4), 7. Le Mars (21-4), 8. Indianola (20-9), 9. Boone (22-5), 10. ADM (19-8), 11. Lewis Central (16-9), 12. Creston (14-3), 13. Carroll (16-6), 14. Wahlert (10-12), 15. Xavier 13-11).

CLASS 5A

1. Bettendorf (27-0), 2. Johnston (23-2), 3. Ankeny Centennial (23-1), 4. Dowling (24-3), 5. Iowa City High (13-6), 6. Prairie (17-7), 7. West Des Moines Valley (29-9), 8. Council Bluffs Lincoln (29-11), 9. Ankeny (26-5), 10. Southeast Polk (26-5).

No.11 Saints fall at Hempstead

DUBUQUE - The 11th-ranked Xavier volleyball team was defeated by Dubuque Hempstead, 25-17, 25-19, 25-23, in a Mississippi Valley Conference match in Dubuque Tuesday night.

Kayla Torson had 15 kills and 11 digs for the Saints. Melanie Wertzberger finished with 17 assists and Rachel Sodawasser had 16 assists.

Madsy Richards contributed 13 digs and Charlotte Richards had 10 kills.

Torson sparks Saints by Warriors

As she has done to so many teams in her stellar four-year high school career, Xavier’s Kayla Torson broke the will of the Washington Warriors Tuesday night with a flurry of late-game kills.

Not once, but twice, the 5-foot-11 senior jumping jack single-handedly brought the Saints back from 20-15 deficits and then finished off with the final points in a straight-set 25-22 25-19 25-23 victory at Xavier.

“When you’re down, that’s not the time to let up,” said Torson, an all-stater who will take her talents next year to the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

“That’s the time to turn it up and go after it. When I’m out there, I want to win.”

And she all but willed her team to a win on their home court against a scrappy Washington outfit that’s getting better game by game.

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Torson leads Saints at Dubuque

DUBUQUE - Kayla Torson collected 24 kills and 26 digs Saturday as the Xavier Saints finished with a 1-3 record at the Dubuque Invitational volleyball tournament.

The Saints lost to Bettendorf (21-12, 21-9), lost to ADM (21-10, 21-17) and defeated Muscatine (21-9, 21-9) in pool competition.

Xavier lost to Bettendorf again, 21-10, 21-19, in the playoffs.

Melanie Wertzberger had 29 assists for the Saints. Rachel Sodawasser finished with 24 assists. Madsy Richards had 23 digs and 11 kills.