DES MOINES — Two River Valley Conference volleyball teams made the Iowa High School Athletic Union’s top-15 preseason rankings. The West Branch Bears are ranked 6th to start the season. The Bears reached the 2014 state tournament and lost to eventual state champion Dike-New Hartford in the first round. North Cedar entered the 2015 rankings at number 10. The Knights were ranked most of the year a season ago. The Knights are coming off of a 29-match win season and their second straight RVC North title. Other area 2A teams in the rankings are #4 Dike-New Hartford and #14 Denver.
Unity Christian starts the season out as the top ranked team in class 2A. They reached the semifinals before falling to eventual 2A state champ Dike-New Hartford.
In class 3A, River Valley Conference member West Liberty begins the season ranked 4th after a state tournament run last year. The Comets fell to Nevada in the first round.
Other area teams ranked are #2 Mt. Vernon, #6 Davenport Assumption, #11 CPU and #13 Solon. Solon won the class 3A title last year while Mt. Vernon placed second and starts the season ranked 2nd.
Preseason IGHSAU Volleyball Rankings
Class 2A:
1. Unity Christian
2. Hull, Western Christian
3. Sumner-Fredericksburg
4. Dike-New Hartford
5. Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont
6. West Branch
7. Tri-Center
8. Grundy Center
9. Lake Mills
10. North Cedar
11. Wapsie Valley
12. Lawton-Bronson
13. Treynor
14. Denver
15. Nashua-Plainfield
Class 3A:
1. Nevada
2. Mt. Vernon
3. Union
4. West Liberty
5. Carroll Kuemper
6. Davenport Assumption
7. Sioux Center
8. Forest City
9. Waterloo Columbus
10. Algona
11. Center Point-Urbana
12. North Polk
13. Solon
14. Spirit Lake
15. Humboldt
Storylines For 2015
1. Can North Cedar take the next step and knock off either West Branch or West Liberty. The Knights have the talent to do so, and will start the season highly ranked.
2. Youth is served. Three of the four Conservative teams will have an influx of talent from incoming freshmen. Tipton, Wilton and Durant all have kids that will see time either as starters or coming off the bench. The Tigers may have the most freshmen of the three teams with five players starting the year on varsity.
3. No Tipton-North Cedar regular season match. Though they could play in both the Mt. Vernon and North Cedar tournaments, the annual Tipton-North Cedar match comes to an end. Due to the River Valley Conference scheduling. The two school slide off the cross-over rotation for at least two seasons, likely more. I am guessing that next year, they will be back playing. This match is too important for both schools and the conference, not to be played, even if it is a non-conference match.
Knights Look To Take Next Step
CLARENCE — The North Cedar Knights had an outstanding season a year ago, winning 29 matches and winning the RIver Valley North Division for the second straight season. The Knights return most of their roster from last season. The Knights had winning streaks of 10 and 7 matches during the season and had only two times where they lost two or more matches in a row.
North Cedar had five players total 100 or more kills last season. Freshman Darby Hawtrey led North Cedar with 271 kills for a 2.27 kill per set average. She is back for her sophomore season as is sister Madison Hawtrey who as a junior had 212 kills for a 2.10 kill per set average.
A trio of sophomores last season, juniors this season, also did well. Aubrey Cady had 171 kills, Morgan Sander 127 and Lakaya Lyon 109 kills.
The Knights were a good serving team last season and top server Emily Hay returns after a sophomore season with a .995 serve efficiency (428-for-430) with 26 aces.
The Knights return their top two setters as well. Ahrendsen had 404 assists while Hay had 352. The Knights also have three backrow players who had 300 or more digs. Kate Pruess led North Cedar with 398 or 3.75 per set while Taylor Kress had 314 (3.05 per set) and Madison Hawtrey had 300 (2.97 per set).
The Knights begin the year ranked 10th in class 2A after cracking the 2A rankings for the first time last season, as a member of the River Valley Conference.
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