Metro Sports Report

Cedar Valley spiked by Alburnett

ALBURNETT - The Cedar Valley Christian volleyball team lost to Alburnett, 25-14, 25-17, 25-16, in a Tri-Rivers Conference match Thursday night in Alburnett.

Emma Slagle collected 13 digs for the Huskies. Candace Wilson had five assists and Nicole Hartmann contributed four kills.

Cougars jump to 4th in volleyball poll

The Kennedy Cougars climbed three spots to No. 4 in the new Class 5A volleyball rankings Thursday by the IGHSAU.

Kennedy has an 8-3 record and trails Cedar Falls, Bettendorf and Ankeny Centennial in the poll.

Linn-Mar jumped one notch to No. 7 in the 5A rankings. Prairie fell five spots to No. 10.

The Marion Indians stayed No. 2 in Class 4A behind West Delaware.

Martin tabs connections for new Kohawks

Bryan Martin has made a lot of good connections during his basketball career as a player and coach at seven different colleges.

It's paid off with a handsome recruiting class at Coe.

Martin has brought in 11 new players for the Kohawks and four of them came through his connections with his former coaches and former players through the years.

Take Zach Schlabaugh of Williamsburg. Schlabaugh's father, Dave, recruited Martin to play college basketball at Morningside. Now Martin has recruited Schlabaugh's son to play for him at Coe.

"We've kind of come full cycle there," said Martin.

Take Will Reichelt, a 6-foot-6 player from Pocatello, Idaho. One of Reichelt's coaches in school was a student manager at Indian Hills when Martin worked at that junior college.

Navarreto looks OK for playoffs

Cedar Rapids Kernels Manager Jake Mauer had one of those "Oh, no!" looks in the sixth inning Monday after Brian Navarreto got hit by a pitch on his left hand and was sitting in the dirt by home plate in pain.

The Midwest League playoffs begin Wednesday night and for awhile Mauer thought he might be without the services of his best catcher when the Kernels host the Quad Cities River Bandits in Game 1.

Navarreto is not in the clear yet, but X-rays were negative and the 21-year-old catcher from Puerto Rico does not have any fractures in his hand.

"It's kind of painful right now, but I don't have anything broken," he remarked.

Navarreto said he plans to play Wednesday night.

The Kernels lost to Clinton, 6-2, Monday in the final game of the regular season at Veterans Memorial Stadium. It was a meaningless game in terms of the standings, although Clinton managed to avoid setting a franchise record for losses by winning the contest.

The biggest news of the day was Navarreto, who is only a .217 hitter but a superior force behind the plate. Mauer was relieved when Kernels trainer Curtis Simondet told him there were no broken bones.