Kennedy Volleyball

Paulsen named Metro Coach of Year

Roxanne Paulsen of Marion High School has been named the Metro Coach of the Year in girls volleyball, as selected by the Metro coaches.

Marion earned a spot in the Class 4A state tournament with a 3-0 victory over DeWitt Central in the regional finals Tuesday night. This will be Paulsen's fifth trip to the state tournament with the Indians and the first since 2009. Marion won a state title in 2008.

Abby Phillips and Amanda Sahm of Marion were named to the top all-Metro squad with their coach. They were joined by Kayla Torson of Xavier, Amanda Ollinger of Jefferson, Kate Busswitz of Prairie, Sarah Renner of Linn-Mar, Anna Fluent of Kennedy and Macy Anderson of Kennedy.

SECOND TEAM

Alyssa Thomas (Marion), Olivia Frazier (Marion), Ellie Anderson (Linn-Mar), Sami Boekhoff (Linn-Mar), Caiti Peterson (Washington), Mallory Jones (Prairie), Madsy Richards (Xavier), Brinley Milbrath (Kennedy).

HONORABLE MENTION

Jefferson - Maddie Slagle, Kristen Naber
Kennedy - Paige Franck, Kendal Meier
Prairie - Jennifer Lockhart, Megan Sprengeler
Washington - Sophie Smith, Rumer Weiland
Xavier - Mel Wertzberger, Olivia Krapfl
Linn-Mar - Emilee McGowan, Meg Gostonczik
Marion - Isabella Sade, Johanna Steggall

No. 9 Cougars rally to oust Lions, 3-2

The Kennedy Cougars lost the first two games against Linn-Mar Thursday night and trailed 22-18 in the third set when Coach Michelle Goodall called a timeout with her team on the verge of being eliminated from the Class 5A regional volleyball tournament.

She must have said the magic words.

The ninth-ranked Cougars rallied for a dramatic 23-25, 26-28, 25-23, 25-23, 15-12 victory in the regional semifinals at Linn-Mar.

Kennedy (28-9) will face third-ranked Dowling in the regional finals at Newton Tuesday night, with the winner claiming a spot in the state tournament at the U.S. Cellular Center in downtown Cedar Rapids.

Goodall challenged her players during that timeout with the Cougars just three points away from extinction.

"I told them in that timeout, 'Who believes we're going to win the next three points?,'" she said. "Three or four of them said, 'Yeah, we're gonna.'"

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No. 9 Cougars dream about state volleyball

Michelle Goodall steered Kennedy High School to the semifinals of the state volleyball tournament in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 during a remarkable four-year run, but the Cougars have not reached the state meet the last two seasons.

Goodall is anxious to get back to the 2014 tournament, which will be held at the U.S. Cellular Center in downtown Cedar Rapids Nov. 11-14.

"It's weird when your season ends early," Goodall said Monday night. "The kids have a little dream going on. We're hopeful of getting down there. I'm guessing every kid in the state has the same dream."

The ninth-ranked Cougars began the postseason trail Monday with a 25-19, 25-7, 25-9 victory over Cedar Rapids Washington in the Class 5A regional quarterfinals at the Kennedy gym.

Kennedy (27-11) will play at Linn-Mar (27-11) Thursday night in the regional semifinals. The regional finals will be held Tuesday, Nov. 4 at Newton with third-ranked Dowling looming in the other half of the bracket.

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Cougars ranked 9th in volleyball poll

The Kennedy Cougars will enter the postseason volleyball playoffs next week as the highest ranked Class 5A team from the Metro area.

Kennedy climbed one spot to No. 9 in the final poll of the season Thursday after reaching the championship round of the Mississippi Valley Conference tournament last Saturday.

The Marion Indians remained third in the Class 4A rankings despite losing two matches in the tough Wamac Conference tournament Tuesday.

The Prairie Hawks dropped out of the Class 5A poll Thursday.

CLASS 5A

1. Bettendorf (34-0), 2. Ankeny Centennial (36-3), 3. Dowling (35-5), 4. Johnston (34-5), 5. Ankeny (33-6), 6. West Des Moines Valley (35-10), 7. Council Bluffs Lincoln (35-13), 8. Iowa City High (22-9), 9. Kennedy (26-11), 10. Southeast Polk (30-9).

CLASS 4A

1. Harlan (35-2), 2. West Delaware (41-2), 3. Marion (30-7), 4. Sioux City Heelan (28-11), 5. Clear Creek-Amana (24-9), 6. Charles City (39-4), 7. Indianola (30-9), 8. LeMars (29-9), 9. Waverly-Shell Rock (31-19), 10. Boone (31-6), 11. Dallas Center-Grimes (23-13), 12. Davenport Assumption (18-13), 13. Fort Madison (28-10), 14. Glenwood (16-13), 15. ADM (21-12).