Three of the best volleyball teams in Class 2A will converge in one location for a triangular Tuesday. #4 (2A) Grundy Center will host #9 (2A) Aplington-Parkersburg and #11 (2A) Sumner-Fredericksburg in matches that’ll air on 99 The Wave and RadioOnTheGo’s YouTube channel.
The Falcons (12-4) will look to build upon a 2-2 performance at Saturday’s home tournament, where they defeated Charles City and #5 (3A) West Delaware but fell to #12 (2A) Wapsie Valley and #1 (2A) Denver. Head Coach Candace Kleespies describes how league play is beneficial for postseason positioning.
“It is a great thing to have to be able to play in this league, to play in the NICL and play the best teams in the state night in and night out,” Kleespies says. “It can get a little draining sometimes if you get a couple losses back to back, but the big thing that we try to tell the girls is the girls union does such a tremendous job of rewarding the teams that play tough schedules. Win or loss, it’s just going to help us for the postseason.”
Nine of the league’s 15 teams are currently ranked.
The Spartans (13-2) fell twice to Denver at Saturday’s tournament at AP. They defeated #11 (3A) Roland-Story, Wapsie Valley and #14 (1A) Ankeny Christian. Head Coach Lori Willis says the team’s mix of upperclassmen and underclassmen in the starting lineup has it in a great position.
“I absolutely love it when you have a team like that, because that’s when tradition just keeps carrying,” Willis says. “When you’re able to do that, you have some special kids that come in and able to start as a freshman like Charlee Kirkpatrick and go all the way around. She has really good ball control. She’s a high flyer. She can execute at a high level and the other girls support her when maybe her confidence is wavering a little bit because she’s a freshman. And then we have a handful of sophomores too. And then we have our seniors, which we do have a very nice balance. And I feel like the seniors are doing a good job of keeping the girls steady on course, positive, even when things aren’t going our way.”
Coverage will start at 5:15 p.m., followed by the first serve at 5:30. The Spartans and Cougars will meet in the first match, followed by the Cougars and Falcons. AP will play the hosts in the finale.
