Xavier High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

No.11 Saints fall at Hempstead

DUBUQUE - The 11th-ranked Xavier volleyball team was defeated by Dubuque Hempstead, 25-17, 25-19, 25-23, in a Mississippi Valley Conference match in Dubuque Tuesday night.

Kayla Torson had 15 kills and 11 digs for the Saints. Melanie Wertzberger finished with 17 assists and Rachel Sodawasser had 16 assists.

Madsy Richards contributed 13 digs and Charlotte Richards had 10 kills.

Murdock's ace sparks Cougars to district title

The free drinks are on Cole Murdock.

Murdock fired a hole-in-one and claimed medalist honors Tuesday at Hunters Ridge as the Kennedy Cougars won their eighth straight district golf title.

Kennedy will compete for the state title this Friday and Saturday at the Tournament Club of Iowa in Polk City.

Murdock aced the 16th hole at Hunters Ridge with a pitching wedge. The ball hit the bottom of the flag and dropped into the cup.

Murdock knew he hit a good shot, but did not realize the ball was in the hole.

"I've never had a hole-in-one, so I guess I've never really seen what it looks like going in from the distance," he said. "When I heard it hit the flag I was kind of looking around to see where it went."

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Winless Cougars can still make playoffs

The Kennedy Cougars have stumbled to an 0-6 record this season with a couple of near-misses and blown leads along the way, but all is not lost in Cougar Town.

Kennedy actually has a decent shot at making the Class 4A playoffs with victories over the Waterloo schools this month. You can thank - or blame - the Iowa High School Athletic Association and district football for that.

Four of the six teams in Kennedy's district will make the playoffs. Cedar Falls and Linn-Mar, which meet in a showdown Friday night, are in good shape with 2-0 district records. Jefferson looks like a good bet at 1-1, which leaves one more playoff berth up for grabs.

Kennedy could grab that spot by beating Waterloo East in Waterloo this Friday night and topping Waterloo West in the last game of the regular season Oct. 24 at Kingston. Under that scenario, the Cougars can lose at Cedar Falls Oct. 17.

Yes, that's right. Kennedy can make the playoffs this year with a 2-7 overall record.

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No.1 Saints shocked by Western Dubuque

Everyone who prematurely awarded the Class 3A football title to the Xavier Saints this year received a cold slap in the face Friday night.

So did the Saints.

The Western Dubuque Bobcats stole a page from Xavier's defensive playbook and stunned the top-ranked Saints, 7-6, in a chilly homecoming game at Saints Field.

Xavier reached the Class 4A championship game in 2012 and 2013, and when the Saints dropped to Class 3A this year a lot of folks thought they'd breeze to a state title against inferior competition.

Xavier had rolled by four Class 3A opponents this season by a combined score of 166-15 heading into Friday night, but Western Dubuque had other ideas about becoming cannon fodder for the hosts.

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