Regional Volleyball Preview: Day One—First Round

The volleyball postseason is finally here. The 1A and 2A regional volleyball tournament kicks off Tuesday night all around the state of Iowa. All matches are scheduled for a 7 p.m. start, unless otherwise noted.

Class 1A Region 3

Stanton, Essex and Griswold will all compete Tuesday night in the first round of Region 3.

The Viqueens will be home for their first round match when they take on the Nishnabotna Blue Devils.

Stanton wrapped up the regular season by winning the Corner Conference tournament title, as well as the regular season title, not losing a match in conference play.

Carmen Subbert leads Stanton as they look to make it to the state volleyball tournament for the fourth consecutive year. Subbert is second in Class 1A in kills with 420.

Nishnabotna has seen their ups and downs this season, but they finished the season strong with wins last week against Sidney and Heartland Christian.

The Blue Devils took third at the Corner Conference tournament, but finished tied for fifth in the regular season conference standings with a 4-4 record.

Junior Anne-Marie Maher leads the Nishnabotna attack. Maher is fourth in the Corner Conference in kills with 208. Maher leads the Corner Conference in digs with 363.

Stanton's last meeting with Nishnabotna took place Oct. 3 when they won 3-0.

Essex will also host a home match for the first round when they take on South Page. Two teams that shared a volleyball program last season will now face each other with a chance to advance to the quarterfinals.

The Trojanettes finished tied for third with Sidney in the Corner Conference standings and also placed fourth at the tournament this season.

Essex wrapped up the regular season last week with a win against East Mills, but a loss to Fremont-Mills. 

South Page has had five wins this season, with three against Clarinda Academy, one against Diagonal and one against West Nodaway.

This is the first meeting for both teams since Sept. 3 when Essex won 3-1. 

Seana Perkins is the player to watch for Essex. Perkins, who helps set up the offensive attack, is sixth in the Corner Conference in assists with 3.82. Additionally, Regan Burns is also a player to watch for Essex. Burns leads the Corner Conference in aces with 74

Cheyana Brownfield will be the player to watch for South Page. Brownfield leads the Rebels in kills with 121 and is tied for second in the Corner Conference in aces with 60.

Griswold will be on the road for their first round match as they take on Exira-EHK.

The last Griswold match was the opening round of the Western Iowa Conference tournament, which was last week. Griswold finished seventh in the regular season standings for the Western Iowa Conference with a 4-6 record.

Candice Howell is a player to watch for Griswold. Howell leads the team in kills with 149.

Exira-EHK is fresh off an appearance at the Rolling Valley Conference tournament. They picked up wins against Boyer Valley, West Harrison and Glidden-Ralston, but lost to Paton-Churdan.

The Spartans finished tied for third in the Rolling Valley Conference standings. Leading the attack for Exira-EHK is Adriel Hoflen, who leads the team in kills with 230.

Winner of Griswold/Exira-EHK plays the winner of Essex/South Page, next Tuesday in Griswold.

Meanwhile, the winner of Stanton/Nishnabotna plays the winner of Bedford/Diagonal in the quarterfinals, next Tuesday in Stanton.

The remaining first round matches in Region 3 will be Clarinda Academy at Orient-Macksburg, East Union at Lenox and Mormon Trail at Southeast Warren.

1A Region 2

East Mills will begin the first round in region 2 Tuesday evening when they take on the Sidney Cowgirls.

The Wolverines finished strong with wins against South Page and Clarinda Academy, last week. Sidney meanwhile lost their season finale match to Stanton, last Thursday.

Kendra Croghan is the player to watch for East Mills. Croghan leads the team in kills with 154 (teammate Stephanie Frink has 153). Jessie Doyle is also a player to watch as she is fourth in the conference in digs with 238.

For Sidney, Lexy Larsen and Quinn Sheldon are players to watch. Larsen has the second most kills in the conference, recording 260. Sheldon is second in the Corner Conference in digs with 276.

Winner of the match plays the winner of Fremont-Mills and Heartland Christian.

The other first round matches in Class 1A will feature Ar-We-Va at Boyer Valley, Charter Oak-Ute at Woodbine, River Valley at Kingsley-Pierson, Whitling at West Harrison and Siouxland Christian at LeMars Gehlen. Westwood has a first round bye.

Class 2A Region 4

Southwest Valley will be in Region 4 for Class 2A. However, they are one of four teams with a first round bye.

Mount Ayr takes on Central Decatur and the winner plays the Timberwolves next Tuesday in Corning.

The other first round matches in Region 4 will be Earlham at Nodaway Valley, Pleasantville at Van Meter and Pella Christian versus Cardinal.

Des Moines Christian, BGM and Eddyville-Blakesburg also have first round byes.

To see the volleyball brackets, go to IGHSAU.org.