Metro Sports Report

Kernels blanked by Timber Rattlers

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. - The Cedar Rapids Kernels were held to five hits Thursday night and fell to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, 4-0, before 4,435 fans at Fox Cities Stadium.

It was the Kernels' first road loss at Wisconsin this season in 11 games. The Kernels are now 15-2 against the Timber Rattlers in 2015.

Cedar Rapids stranded 10 men on base. Nick Gordon and Brett Doe had two hits. Gordon and Chris Paul had doubles and were hit by a pitch.

Wisconsin jumped to a 3-0 lead in the third inning. The Timber Rattlers quickly loaded the bases as Mitch Meyer walked, Luis Aviles doubled and Sthervin Matos drew a base on balls to begin frame.

With the bases loaded and nobody out, Blake Allemand's sacrifice fly to right scored Meyer for the game's first run. The throw home allowed both Aviles and Matos to move into scoring position.

Aviles came home on Elvis Rubio's RBI groundout, making the score 2-0. David Denson's RBI single to left brought Matos home and pushed the Wisconsin lead to three runs.

No. 9 Cougars aiming for No. 5 Warriors

It's always fun to head into a big high school football game when you have no clue how it's going to turn out.

That's the case heading into Friday night's showdown between the ninth-ranked Kennedy Cougars and fifth-ranked Washington Warriors at Kingston Stadium.

Based on last year's results, you'd have to make the Warriors a heavy favorite. But based on how things are shaping up this year, it could be a toss-up.

The picture can change quickly in high school sports. Washington reached the Class 4A state championship game last season and finished with a sparkling 13-1 record. Kennedy, meanwhile, began the season with a six-game losing streak and had to hustle to finish 3-8.

Washington returned a host of outstanding skill players this season, but the Warriors took a heavy hit on the offensive line. Now it's Kennedy that has a strong offensive line that helped tailback Tyler Dralle rush for 265 yards and four touchdowns last week in an exciting 34-31 victory over Iowa City West.

Washington was locked in a 14-14 battle with Jefferson last week before the Warriors broke away for a 27-14 victory, with its rebuilt offensive line opening some nice holes when it mattered.

No. 5 Cougars spike No. 3 Lions

For awhile Tuesday night, it looked like big Amanda Ollinger was going to personally wreck the Kennedy Cougars in their volleyball showdown with Linn-Mar at the Kennedy gym.

The Cougars kept their cool and battled back for a 17-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-15 victory over the Lions in a battle between two of the top Class 5A volleyball teams in the state.

Linn-Mar is ranked No. 3 and Kennedy is ranked No. 5, but the experienced Cougars were the better club this time.

Ollinger, a 6-foot-1 senior who will play basketball for the Iowa Hawkeyes, collected eight kills in the first set as the Lions got off to a fast start, but she had only 10 more kills the rest of the night.

"We started off a little shaky," Kennedy senior Tianna Drahn acknowledged.

Lang leads Kohawks at Sail Classic

CEDAR FALLS - Erin Lang shot a 15-over-par 87 Friday to lead the Coe women's golf team at the Luther Sail Classic at Pheasant Ridge Golf Course.

Lang is tied for 21st place after the first round of the 36-hole tournament.

Brooke Klostermann of Wartburg fired an even-par 72 as the Knights took a 23-shot lead in the team standings. Coe stands in eighth place out of 12 schools.