State Volleyball Preview: Red Oak faces Sioux Center in quarterfinals

The time has finally arrived. It's the state volleyball tournament as one area team looks to keep their season alive.

That team will be Red Oak, who enters the state tournament with a 33-7 record as they take on Sioux Center, who enters the tournament with a 31-8. The match will take place Wednesday at 10 a.m. on Court #1 at the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids.

It's the third straight season Red Oak has been in the state tournament.

The last two years have resulted in quarterfinal exits for the Tigers. Last year, Red Oak lost to Kuemper Catholic, while in 2012, they fell to MOC-Floyd Valley.

Interestingly enough, Sioux Center defeated both MOC-Floyd Valley and Kuemper Catholic to advance to the state tournament.

The first appearance for Red Oak at the state tournament under Montgomery came in 2010. They lost that season to Mount Vernon.

The last win for Red Oak in the state volleyball tournament came in 2005 when they defeated Waterloo Columus 3-2 in the 2A quarterfinals. They lost the next day in the semifinals in five sets to Western Christian.

Prior to that, Red Oak had not won a match in the state tournament since 2000 when they defeated Osage 3-1 in Class 2A first round. They fell short in the semifinals against Unity Christian 3-0.

This will be the third straight state tournament for the current batch of seniors, headlined by hitters Kate Walker and Grace Blomstedt. Walker leads the team in kills with 372, while Blomstedt has 339.

Additionally, Red Oak has two players who each have at least 100 kills. Junior Angela Mahoney, who has also served as setter, has 175 kills, third most on the team. Sierra Athen, a freshman middle hitter, has 110 kills this year.

If that's not enough, Red Oak can also turn to senior Madison Gilbert, who has 90 kills and Dana Marsden, who has 83.

Sioux Center has four hitters with at least 190 kills, led by Jill VanderPlaats, who has 266. The Warriors can also turn to Jessica Harald, who has 213 kills. Alexis Toering has 209 kills, while Clare Kortlever has 190.

The winner of Red Oak and Sioux Center will face Mount Vernon, who defeated Union Tuesday night 3-0.

The other quarterfinal match in Class 3A scheduled for Wednesday morning features Nevada against West Liberty. The winner of that match will face Solon in the semifinal Thursday afternoon.

The 3A semifinals will take place at 2 p.m.

Elsewhere, in Class 4A, it was Harlan defeating Lewis Central 3-0 to advance to the semifinals. They'll play Clear Creek Amana Thursday, who defeated Bishop Heelan. The other semifinal in Class 4A features West Delaware against Marion.

In Class 5A, Abraham Lincoln held off Dowling Catholic to get the 3-2 victory. They play Ankeny Centennial Thursday morning. The other semifinal in Class 5A features Bettendorf against Johnston.