Iowa state volleyball: Finals now set in all five classes following Wednesday’s semifinal action

Championship Thursday kicks off with 5A and runs through the 1A final

Waukee Northwest and Piper Ladwig (11) advanced to the Class 5A state volleyball finals with a win Thursday. / Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Wednesday at the Iowa state volleyball championships brought with it semifinal action in all five classes from inside the Xtream Arena in Coralville. Starting in the state’s biggest, 5A, and running through to 1A, the action was hot and the results were mesmerizing.

Pleasant Valley, the top-seed in 5A, will get the chance to secure gold after sweeping West Des Moines Dowling in a close match. Scores were 25-23, 25-19 and 25-23.

Isabelle Kremer had 16 kills and 13 digs, Maren Oullette added seven kills and Stella Smith had six kills with six block assists. As a team, the Spartans recorded 18 block assists.

Dowling was paced by nine kills from Kennedy Klein and eight by Kaylie Klein.

Awaiting Pleasant Valley in the finals will be Waukee Northwest, as the Wolves upset Ankeny Centennial in five. After winning the first two, 25-21 and 25-22, Waukee Northwest saw the Jaguars answer, claiming set three (25-16) and set four (25-23) to force a fifth and deciding battle.

The Wolves escaped, winning 18-16, as Logan Vogt had 17 kills and 15 digs. Avery Cordes added 10 kills and three solo blocks with Piper Ladwig adding nine kills.

For Centennial, both Jaeden Pratt and Delaney Miller had 21 kills. Mya Lei-Butters recorded 31 digs and Pratt had five block assists and three solo blocks.

Pella took care of Sergeant Bluff-Luton and Sioux City Bishop Heelan knocked off North Scott in the 4A semifinals. After stunning top-seed Cedar Rapids Xavier, Sergeant Bluff-Luton was no match for Pella.

Katie Scheckel registered 16 kills with 10 digs while Emma Eekhoff had 10 kills and nine digs to lead the Dutch, who also had seven aces as a team.

Heelan, meanwhile, improved to 43-3 on the year with a win over the Lancers, winning the first two sets by just two points each before finishing off the sweep. Ava Lloyd had 14 kills and Maliyah Hacker 13 for the Crusaders.

Seeding held true in 3A, as No. 1 Mount Vernon swept Dubuque Wahlert and second-ranked Western Christian did the same to West Delaware.

Sydney Maue had 13 kills and Chloe Meester 11 to lead Mount Vernon, which got five serving aces from Meester. Scarlett Winterfeld’s 14 kills led Western Christian, as Bentley Bliek had 12 and Morgan Kooiman 11.

Just like in 3A, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds advanced to the finals in 2A, as Denver knocked off Dike-New Hartford and Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont got past Dyersville Beckman.

Grace Mullihan had nine kills with five block assists, Mylee Thurm added eight kills and six block assists, and Myia Rosecrans had seven kills for Denver. Leading the way for E-B-F was Molly Shafer, who registered 41 kills and 18 digs.

Over the last five sport seasons, the Rockets have qualified for state each time, advancing in volleyball in 2023 and ‘24 along with basketball, track and field and softball last season.

The 1A finale, and last match of the prep volleyball season, will see top-ranked and two-time defending champion Ankeny Christian try to secure a three-peat vs. BCLUW. Ankeny Christian had little trouble with Riverside, as Katie Quick had 13 kills.

They will meet BCLUW, who knocked off Janesville in three. Grace Farnsworth picked up 15 kills and Olivia Peters had eight.  

Iowa State Volleyball Championship Games

5A: Pleasant Valley (34-2) vs. Waukee Northwest (28-9), 10 a.m.

4A: Pella (40-7) vs. Sioux City Bishop Heelan (43-3), 12:15 p.m.

3A: Mount Vernon (44-4) vs. Western Christian (33-13), 2:30 p.m.

2A: Denver (46-3) vs. Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont (36-2), 4:45 p.m.

1A: Ankeny Christian (39-5) vs. BCLUW (33-10), 7 p.m.