2021 IGHSAU State Volleyball Tournament: Monday Recap
It's on to the Final Four for two-time state champion Cedar Falls at the 2021 Iowa High School Girls State Volleyball Tournament.
The Tigers defeated West Des Moines Dowling Catholic, 3-0, in the Class 5A quarterfinals at Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids Monday afternoon. Set scores were 25-22, 25-18 and 30-28.
Junior Katie Remmert led the Tigers with 16 kills and also recorded 14 digs, the second-most on the team. Senior Olivia Smothers finished with 10 kills and UNI recruit Alivia Bronner, a senior, had a team-high 15 digs.
Fourth-seeded Cedar Falls, now 31-8, moves on to Wednesday morning's semifinals. The Tigers will face No. 8-seed Johnston, which upset top-seeded Iowa City Liberty, 3-2, in another quarterfinal match.
The other Class 5A semifinal on Wednesday at 10 AM features No. 2-seed Pleasant Valley and No. 3-seed Ankeny. Pleasant Valley won its quarterfinal Monday morning, beating Ankeny Centennial 3-1. Ankeny defeated Urbandale in five sets.
In Class 4A, Waverly-Shell Rock advanced the semifinals by surviving an epic quarterfinal match against Oskaloosa Monday night. The third-seeded Go-Hawks beat the sixth-seeded Indians in five sets: 23-25, 28-26, 21-25, 25-15 and 15-12.
Oskaloosa senior Faith DeRonde set a state tournament record with 40 kills and, along with junior Maleah Walker, had a team-high 13 digs. Senior Avery Beckett and junior Averi Weichers each had 14 kills to lead Waverly-Shell Rock, which also got 10 kills from junior Ellie Thompson.
Senior Annika Behrends had a match-high 19 digs for the Go-Hawks.
Waverly-Shell Rock, now 43-7, now moves on a semifinal match against No. 2-seed North Scott, which defeated Bondurant-Farrar in straight-sets Monday night. The Lancers beat the Blue Jays 25-21,25-16 and 25-20.
In other Class 4A quarterfinal matches Monday night, top-seed Western Dubuque of Epworth defeated Sioux City Bishop Heelan 3-0, and fifth-seed Marion beat No. 4 Cedar Rapids Xavier 3-2.
The Class 4A semifinals are scheduled to be played Wednesday at noon.
Tuesday's state tournament schedule features quarterfinal matches in Class 3A (10 AM and noon), Class 2A (2 PM and 4 PM) and Class 1A (6 PM and 8 PM).