Xavier Volleyball

Lions, Saints climb in volleyball poll

The Linn-Mar Lions and Xavier Saints both climbed a notch in the IGHSAU volleyball rankings Thursday.

Linn-Mar jumped from No.7 to No.6 in the Class 5A rankings. Xavier went from No.11 to No.10 in the Class 4A poll.

The Marion Indians remained the highest-ranked team in the Metro area with the No.3 spot in the Class 4A poll.

Kennedy, which was ranked 10th last week in Class 5A, dropped out of the ratings this week.

CLASS 4A

1. Harlan (11-1), 2. West Delaware (10-0), 3. Marion (6-1), 4. Le Mars (4-0), 5. Sioux City Heelan (5-5), 6. Indianola (8-4), 7. Charles City (12-2), 8. Clear Creek-Amana (5-3), 9. Lewis Central (5-4), 10. Xavier (5-3), 11. ADM (14-5), 12. Carroll (2-1), 13. Waverly-Shell Rock (7-6), 14. Boone (5-2), 15. DeWitt Central (8-3).

CLASS 5A

1. Ankeny Centennial (12-0), 2. Dowling (11-1), 3. Bettendorf (6-0), 4. Johnston (7-1), 5. Ankeny (4-2), 6. Linn-Mar (6-1), 7. Southeast Polk (15-1), 8. Iowa City High (5-1), 9. Council Bluffs Lincoln (7-6), 10. West Des Moines Valley (11-3).

Xavier sweeps past Waterloo West

Madsy Richards had 14 kills and ll digs to lead Xavier to a 25-9, 25-18, 25-13 volleyball sweep over Waterloo West on Monday night at Xavier.

Kayla Torson added 12 kills and 14 digs to go along with four blocks. Charlotte Richards and Ellie McDermott had three ace serves apiece for the Saints.

Melanie Wertzberger had 17 assists for Xavier.

Wash tournament had something for everyone

A star-studded 12-team field Saturday at the 24th annual Washington Warrior Invitational volleyball tournament showed once again that class doesn’t really matter.

In the championship finals, Class 5A fourth-ranked Johnston survived Class 3A top-ranked Solon in three games.

But throughout the day-long tourney with seven ranked teams, little schools battled big ones on an equal footing.

From the Metro area, highly ranked Class 4A Marion and Class 5A Linn-Mar both made the championship semifinals. And unranked Jefferson fell to Johnston in the quarterfinals.

“We came really close to both Johnston and Solon,” said J-Hawk Coach Mary Kay Van Oort. “To think we played that well that against such impressive competition that’s here today is a good day. And I know we can play even better.”

Read more...

Indians, Lions climb in volleyball poll

Two of the top volleyball teams in the state are located in Marion, according to the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.

The Marion Indians climbed one spot to No.3 in the Class 4A rankings Thursday and the Linn-Mar Lions climbed two spots to No.7 in the Class 5A poll.

The Xavier Saints are ranked No.11 in Class 4A, down one spot from the initial rankings. The Kennedy Cougars jumped into the rankings at No.10 in Class 5A.

CLASS 4A

1. Harlan (6-0), 2. West Delaware (5-0), 3. Marion (0-0), 4. LeMars (3-0), 5. Sioux City Heelan (3-1), 6. Indianola (7-4), 7. Clear Creek-Amana (4-2), 8. Charles City (4-1), 9. Boone (5-1), 10. Lewis Central (2-1), 11. Xavier (0-1), 12. Davenport Assumption (2-0), 13. Waverly-Shell Rock (4-2), 14. DeWitt Central (5-0), 15. ADM (6-2).

CLASS 5A

1. Ankeny Centennial (7-0), 2. Dowling Catholic (6-0), 3. Bettendorf (5-0), 4. Johnston (1-0), 5. Ankeny (0-1), 6. Iowa City West (3-1), 7. Linn-Mar (1-0), 8. Southeast Polk (9-0), 9. Council Bluffs Lincoln (4-2), 10. Kennedy (2-2).