Linn-Mar Volleyball

Prairie tops No.6 Lions again

The Prairie and Linn-Mar volleyball teams are so evenly matched that both coaches agreed the difference in their well-played battle Tuesday night came down to a mental mind-set.

Down 10-5 in the deciding fifth set on their home floor, the Prairie Hawks aggressively charged back to tie it at 11 and put away the match 15-13.

“These girls just don’t want to lose,” said first-year Prairie Coach Lynnette Stecklein. “But in the end, they were playing not to lose but playing to win. And they did it.”

Second-year Linn-Mar Coach Teresa Kehe, on the other hand, said her Class 5A sixth-ranked squad is struggling with success.

“These kids are not used to being ranked and being a top dog,” she said.

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Prairie wins title at Linn-Mar tourney

The Cedar Rapids Prairie volleyball team lived dangerously at the Linn-Mar tournament Saturday but had the last laugh.

The Hawks whipped Linn-Mar, 21-14, 21-12, in the championship match after surviving several near-misses in the earlier rounds.

Prairie lost games against Vinton-Shellsburg and Pleasant Valley in pool competition, but pulled things together and won both of those matches 2-1.

The Hawks also lost a game to Solon in the semifinals before snaring a 21-14, 9-21, 15-9 victory to reach the finals.

Prairie finished the tournament with a perfect 6-0 record.

There were lots of ups-and-downs in the annual tournament. Marion defeated Linn-Mar in pool play, but then the Lions defeated the Indians in the semifinals.

Marion High School does not beat Linn-Mar High School in too many sports, but volleyball has been an exception over the years. The Indians are currently ranked No.3 in Class 4A and Linn-Mar is ranked No.6 in Class 5A, so both schools have good teams.

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Lions, Saints climb in volleyball poll

The Linn-Mar Lions and Xavier Saints both climbed a notch in the IGHSAU volleyball rankings Thursday.

Linn-Mar jumped from No.7 to No.6 in the Class 5A rankings. Xavier went from No.11 to No.10 in the Class 4A poll.

The Marion Indians remained the highest-ranked team in the Metro area with the No.3 spot in the Class 4A poll.

Kennedy, which was ranked 10th last week in Class 5A, dropped out of the ratings this week.

CLASS 4A

1. Harlan (11-1), 2. West Delaware (10-0), 3. Marion (6-1), 4. Le Mars (4-0), 5. Sioux City Heelan (5-5), 6. Indianola (8-4), 7. Charles City (12-2), 8. Clear Creek-Amana (5-3), 9. Lewis Central (5-4), 10. Xavier (5-3), 11. ADM (14-5), 12. Carroll (2-1), 13. Waverly-Shell Rock (7-6), 14. Boone (5-2), 15. DeWitt Central (8-3).

CLASS 5A

1. Ankeny Centennial (12-0), 2. Dowling (11-1), 3. Bettendorf (6-0), 4. Johnston (7-1), 5. Ankeny (4-2), 6. Linn-Mar (6-1), 7. Southeast Polk (15-1), 8. Iowa City High (5-1), 9. Council Bluffs Lincoln (7-6), 10. West Des Moines Valley (11-3).

Wash tournament had something for everyone

A star-studded 12-team field Saturday at the 24th annual Washington Warrior Invitational volleyball tournament showed once again that class doesn’t really matter.

In the championship finals, Class 5A fourth-ranked Johnston survived Class 3A top-ranked Solon in three games.

But throughout the day-long tourney with seven ranked teams, little schools battled big ones on an equal footing.

From the Metro area, highly ranked Class 4A Marion and Class 5A Linn-Mar both made the championship semifinals. And unranked Jefferson fell to Johnston in the quarterfinals.

“We came really close to both Johnston and Solon,” said J-Hawk Coach Mary Kay Van Oort. “To think we played that well that against such impressive competition that’s here today is a good day. And I know we can play even better.”

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