Five new volleyball champions crowned

CORALVILLE - Sweeps were the main story at the final day of the State volleyball tournament. 

Last week the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union crowned their five new State volleyball champions. Only one of the five classes had a match that didn’t end in a sweep. 

Class 5A 

Pleasant Valley was able to win the class 5A State championship with a 3-1 victory over Waukee Northwest. Pleasant Valley won the first set 25-20, before Waukee Northwest came back with a close 26-24 second set win. 

The third set was another close battle, but Pleasant Valley held off Waukee Northwest with a 25-22 victory. The fourth set featured Pleasant Valley winning 25-16 to win the championship. 

In their path to the finals Pleasant Valley defeated Waukee 3-0 in the first round. The semifinals was a 3-0 win over Dowling Catholic. 

Waukee Northwest entered the tournament as the sixth seeded team. They knocked off Ankeny 3-0 in the first set and then won 3-1 over Ankeny Centennial in the semifinals. 

Class 4A

In class 4A, upsets reigned throughout most of the tournament, but in the end No. 2 seeded Bishop Heelan was able to capture the State title. Heelan defeated Pella 3-0 in the championship match. 

The Crusaders had control of the championship in all three sets. In the first set they won 25-10. The second set was a lopsided 25-13 victory, before the match ended with a 25-17 third set victory. 

Heelan started off the tournament with a 3-0 sweep over Carlisle. In the semifinals Heelan swept North Scott. 

Pella was the fifth seeded team. They started off with a 3-2 win over Clear Creek-Amana. In the semifinals Pella met up with No. 8 seeded Sergeant Bluff-Luton. The Warriors had defeated No. 1 seeded Xavier, Cedar Rapids in the quarterfinals. Pella prevailed in the semifinals with a 3-0 sweep. 

Class 3A

 Mount Vernon made quick work of perennial power, Western Christian in the class 3A championship. 

The Mustangs were able to win the first and second sets by identical scores of 25-17. The third set resulted in a similar 25-18 win by the Mustangs. The Mustangs were the No. 1 seed in the tournament, and Western Christian was the No. 2 seed. 

In the quarter finals Mount Vernon downed Mid-Prairie 3-0. The semifinals was a 3-0 win over Wahlert Catholic, the Eagles had advanced to the semifinals after besting Kuemper Catholic 3-1. 

Western Christian had a close quarterfinal battle, winning 3-2 over Sioux Center. They were then able to gain a 3-0 win over No. 3 seeded West Delaware in the semifinals. 

Class 2A

Denver did something that not very few teams can say they did at the State tournament, they didn’t drop a set on the way to a State championship. 

The Cyclones closed out their perfect run to the State championship with a 3-0 win over Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont. The first set ended with a 25-16 win. That was followed by a narrow 25-23 victory in the second set. The third set ended 25-20 in favor of Denver allowing them to win the 2A title. 

Denver swept Boyden-Hull and Dike-New Hartford in the quarterfinals and semifinals.

For EBF they were the No. 2 seed and gained wins over Regina Catholic and Beckman Catholic on their way to the championship match. 

Class 1A

For the third-straight year Ankeny Christian is the champion of the class 1A volleyball world. 

The Eagles seemed to be near unstoppable in their run to the title. 

The championship concluded with a win over sixth-seeded BCLUW. In the first set Ankeny Christian won 25-15. They would go on to win the second and third sets 25-13. 

The Eagles only allowed more than 20 points to be scored against them once. That came in the semifinals when Ankeny Christian defeated Riverside, 25-12; 25-21; 25-18. In the quarterfinals the Eagles swept Don Bosco. 

As the sixth-seeded team BCLUW started off their tournament run with a upset 3-0 sweep over Holy Trinity Catholic. They were then able to sweep seventh-seeded Janesville in the semifinal round.