EG Netters Drop 3 Straight

FALL TO 2-4 IN ROLLING HILLS CONFERENCE

A quick three-game sweep of CAM (Anita) in a match at Rippey put East Greene at 2-1 and into a tie with Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira for third place in the Rolling Hills Conference, but a three-match losing streak has since dropped the Hawkettes into a tie with Glidden-Ralston in seventh.

East Greene quickly got the measure of the CAM Cougars on Sept. 7, taking the best-of-five-games match 26-24, 25-15, 25-21.

The Hawkettes faced a much more formidable foe in their next match on Sept. 14 as they hosted Adair-Casey, the sixth-ranked team in the state. EG put up a good fight, but fell in three games, 25-19, 26-24, 25-22.

The Hawkettes and AC had tangled earlier in the season in the semifinal round of the Coon Rapids-Bayard Tourney, with the Bombers getting the upper hand in a tight best-of-three match, 25-23, 25-21.

The Sept. 14 conference match against the Bombers put the Hawkettes into the meat of their season schedule as state-ranked Iowa Christian was on the docket for the following Tuesday, Sept. 21, in Rippey with a match at Ankeny Christian Academy in Ankeny on Thursday, Sept. 16.

ACA and East Greene went right down to the wire with a fifth game showdown in Ankeny and the Eagles prevailed: 16-25, 21-25, 26-24, 25-12, 15-8. East Greene almost had a three-game sweep in hand, but ACA rallied in a third game that went into extra digits, and then went on to even things up in game four. The Eagles made quick work of the Hawkettes in that game, winning by a big 13 points. It was more of same in the match-deciding fifth game, with ACA winning by 7.

The loss to ACA was a bit of an upset as EG had rolled over the Eagles in the CRB Tournament 21-8, 21-11. ACA went 0-3 in pool play, also losing to Paton-Churdan and CRB, while EG had advanced to the championship round with a 2-1 pool mark.

While ACA was upending EG to put both teams at 2-3 in the conference, there was a bit of a surprise at the top of the standings as Iowa Christian Academy rolled over Adair-Casey in three straight in a showdown of the league’s leaders. ICA was firmly in command of the match with the Bombers not making much of a threat until third game: 25-20, 25-11, 27-25.

The win left ICA atop the league standings at 5-0 while AC fell to 4-1. In the Class 1A state volleyball rankings released that day, Adair-Casey was ranked 6th and Iowa Christian was 12th.

ICA solidified its place at the top of Rolling Hills on the following Tuesday, Sept. 21, in Rippey taking down the Hawkettes in three games: 25-17, 25-11, 25-18.

The loss dropped EG to 2-4 in the conference and 5-6 overall, the first time all season the Hawkettes have been below .500.

With just three conference matches remaining, the Hawkettes will be fighting to claw back to a finish in the upper division of the Rolling Hills. If they beat Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira (3-3, 4-12) tonight in Elk Horn, Glidden-Ralston (2-4, 5-12) at home on Oct. 5, and Walnut (1-5, 3-14) in their final regular season match on Oct. 12, the Hawkettes will finish with a 5-4 conference mark.

EG also has a home match with former West Central Conference foe Guthrie Center on Thursday of this week and a road match at Madrid, also a West Central member, next Thursday, Oct. 7, to round out its non-conference slate along with a tournament in Walnut on Saturday, Oct. 9.

Rolling Hills Conference
(Standings and records through Monday, 9-27)
Iowa Christian Academy 6-0, 9-3
Adair-Casey 5-1, 10-1
CAM (Anita) 4-2, 4-4
Ankeny Christian Academy 3-3, 4-7
Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira 3-3, 4-12
Orient-Macksburg 3-3, 4-3
East Greene 2-4, 5-6
Glidden-Ralston 2-4, 5-12
Paton-Churdan 1-5, 2-14
Walnut 1-5, 3-14

EYE ON GJ SAYS: EG will be racking up the miles from here on until the end of the season. Along with tonight’s journey to Elk Horn and the trip to Walnut on Oct. 12, the team will also travel to Walnut on Saturday, Oct. 9, to participate in the Walnut Tournament. Then it’s back to Elk Horn again on Thursday, Oct. 14, for the Rolling Hills Conference Tournament, at the Elk Horn-Kimballton gym which is the home court for EHKE.

CONFERENCE TOURNEY: The next three matches are critical to the Hawkettes as the final standings determine the seedings for the conference tournament on Oct. 14. The teams are seeded 1 through 10 and the bottom four seeds play a preliminary round with 7 vs. 10 and 8 vs. 9. Last year, Paton-Churdan was seeded seventh and got by tenth-seeded Walnut in the opening round. The Rockettes then upset No. 2 seed Iowa Christian, the regular season runner-up, to advance to the semifinal round. The four losers in the quarterfinal round drop down into a consolation round, which ICA won by beating Ankeny Christian in the fifth-place match. CAM eliminated PC in the semifinals and went on to face Exira in the championship match, which Exira won. The Rockettes were beaten by Orient-Macksburg in the consolation championship game, giving OM third place with the Rockettes finishing in fourth.

SEASON COMPONENTS: The nice thing about the playing in the Rolling Hills is that the volleyball season is broken up into four components: the regular conference season, the non-conference and invitational tournaments, the conference tournament where everyone gets a fresh start against the same opponents but the match-ups are based how the teams played during the regular season, and then the post-season playoff in the regional tournament, which determines the team that will move on to the state championship in Cedar Rapids.

At this juncture, Iowa Christian and Adair-Casey look very solid. Along with Grandview Park Baptist of Des Moines, they are the only area teams ranked in Class 1A, and all three are currently in the Top 10. Grandview Park (15-7), a qualifier in last year’s state tourney, is fourth, while Adair-Casey is ninth and Iowa Christian is tenth.

Only two central or west central Iowa area teams are ranked in Class 2A—Bondurant-Farrar, which competes against Jefferson-Scranton and Ogden in the Heart of Iowa Conference, and East Sac County, a member of the Twin Lakes along with Southeast Webster-Grand, Prairie Valley and South Central Calhoun (the alignment of Southern Cal of Lake City and Rockwell City-Lytton).

MOMENTUM: Volleyball is clearly a game of momentum, as evidenced by EG’s match against Ankeny Christian. Here the Hawkettes had already beaten the Eagles by scores of very wide margins for volleyball games--10 and 13 points--and were up two games to none in a best-of-five match in Ankeny, winning by nine points and then by four points. The Eagles had whittled away any advantage the Hawkettes had and took a must-win game three that went into extra digits (26-24). That comeback clearly gave ACA the momentum and they carried forward in a complete reversal—and then some—in the final two games winning by wide margins of 13 and 7.

A big momentum shift had hurt the Hawkettes earlier in the season. Coach Carly Tiffany told the Jefferson Herald that in EG’s opening conference match against Orient-Macksburg, the Hawkettes had taken the first game by a comfortable seven-point advantage, 25-18, but then a leaky roof stopped play. When play resumed after the delay, the Hawkettes had lost their momentum and OM took advantage, taking the next three games and the match, 25-17, 26-24, 25-18.

REGIONAL PAIRINGS: Regional pairings will be released soon and it will be interesting to see how teams are placed geographically. Last year, East Greene and Madrid were on the far eastern border of a region that stretched all the way to the Missouri River, encompassing Southern Cal on the northern edge of the region and teams such as Coon Rapids-Bayard, Ar-We-Va, Exira and St. Albert’s (Council Bluffs). Southern Cal, a highly ranked team, was placed on one side of the region and St. Albert’s, Exira and CRB, all strong teams but none ranked or ranked as highly as Southern Cal, were placed on the opposite side of the region. Southern Cal prevailed and advanced from the region to the state tournament.

Southeast Webster-Grand (Burnside), the closest 1A team to the north of East Greene, along with Rockwell City-Lytton which is (or was, last year) the school just beyond Southern Cal, were in a region that stretched from a line across the middle of Calhoun (Rockwell City) and Webster (Burnside) counties all the way north to the state border with Minnesota.

The next region had a line from Colo-Nesco and over and down to Ankeny and then stretched south and east encompassing Grandview Park Baptist, Iowa Christian and Des Moines Christian, along with schools south of Des Moines such as Martensdale-St. Mary’s and teams further south and east like Moravia, Melcher-Dallas, Twin Cedars (Bussey) and Lynville-Sully.

Grandview Park Baptist was on one side of the region with Iowa Christian, Des Moines Christian and a very strong Twin Cedars team on the other. Twin Cedars beat DMC in the semifinal round, and then fell to Grandview in the region final.

It will be interesting to see how the regions take shape this year. Southern Cal and Rockwell City-Lytton are out of the picture, as South Central Calhoun is a 2A team, so that takes two 1A schools out of two different regions from 2009—So Cal in Region 3 and RCL in Region 2.

Last year, four of the 10 West Central Conference schools (EG, DMC, CRB and Madrid) were in Class 1A with the other six in 2A. Since EG moved from the West Central to the Rolling Hills, the league has just nine members this year (Ogden will leave the Heart of Iowa after this year and begin play next year in the West Central). And again this year, four of the members are in 1A. This year its Guthrie Center and Earlham dropping down from 2A to join Madrid and CRB in 1A while Woodward-Granger, Van Meter, West Central Valley and Panorama remain in 2A and DMC moves from 1A to 2A.

So there will be the DMC void to fill in that region but the next nearest team to the north and west is Madrid and due west is Earlham, so most likely one—or both—of those two teams could slide into that region (which was Region 5 last year). And last year, Guthrie Center was in 2A so they also come into the mix for Region 5 scheduling in 1A.

It will be very interesting in Region 2. Not only is RCL gone, but so is Schaller-Crestland which is in a sports-sharing arrangement with Galva-Holstein as Ridge View, a 2A school.

So some area teams might need to slide north and since Southern Cal is out of the picture then the north edge of the region would drop further down to include Paton-Churdan and also Glidden-Ralston or East Greene, as both are on an even line (Highway 30). In softball last season, in which PC shares with Jefferson-Scranton which is classified either as 2A or 3A (depending on the sport), the schedulers had to leap over PC, geographically speaking, so EG, GR, SWG and Ar-We-VA were classified in a 15-team region (regions are usually between 16 and 18 teams) that included Newell-Fonda, Alta, and Aurelia and teams in far northern Iowa like Ruthven-Ayrshire, West Bend-Mallard, Graettinger-Terrill, and Harris-Lake Park.

Volleyball does have a higher participation level however, as seven of the eight softball regions were comprised of just 15 teams, while in volleyball last year there were four regions with 17 teams and four regions with 18 teams. That resulted in a 17-team regional with a first-round game matching up two teams with the winner slotted into the top or bottom of 16-team bracket and two first-round games on both top and bottom sides of the brackets in regions with 18 teams.

With Adair-Casey well beyond Des Moines, and two ranked teams in the immediate Des Moines area, look for AC to be positioned again in Region 3, where they were last year, while both Iowa Christian and Grandview Park Baptist placed in Region 5 but on opposite sides of the bracket.

GPB could be scheduled to play teams to the east and south while Iowa Christian, being in West Des Moines, would be aligned with teams to the south, but the championship game would most likely be in the southern metro Des Moines area, perhaps Norwalk or Indianola, as last year it was in Truro, which is pretty far south but Twin Cedars reached the final opposite GPB which played its first two rounds at Martensdale-St. Mary’s, a team that was highly ranked last season. GPB knocked out MSt.M in the first round on its march to the regional championship and state tournament.

So far, teams with solid records in the area include both CRB and Guthrie Center from the West Central and Ar-We-Va in the Western Valley South—all three would most likely contend with Adair-Casey in Region 3.

EG-GR Game Highlights Homecoming Week

HAWKS TAKE UNDFEATED MARK INTO D7 SHOWDOWN

Homecoming spirit is in full force at East Greene as the Hawks prepare for a big homecoming game against rival Glidden-Ralston tomorrow night. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Karber Field in Grand Junction.

Homecoming 2010 got underway last Friday with the announcement of the Homecoming Court—five senior girls and five senior boys who are candidates for Homecoming Queen and King. Queen candidates are Brittanee Heaning, Tia Lowe, Jasmine Kinney, Molly Neese and Katlynn Gannon. King candidates are Zach Dearborn, Tyler Cooklin, Charlie Jacobsen, Aaron Lyons and Bret Kersey.

The football team pushed the interest in Homecoming to a higher level that night in Charter Oak with a big 68-12 win over the Charter Oak-Ute Bobcats to remain undefeated with a 4-0 mark and in a tie with Glidden-Ralston and Coon Rapids-Bayard for the lead in District 7 8-Man football. All three teams are 2-0. GR is 3-1 on the season with its only setback a triple-overtime loss to Newell-Fonda, 46-40, in non-district action.

Tomorrow night’s games will have a big impact on who takes the Division 7 crown this year and which of the four teams in the 8-team division will qualify for the playoffs. Besides the EG-GR faceoff, CRB (2-0, 3-1) will travel to Dunlap to face Boyer Valley (1-1, 3-1).

The theme of this year’s Homecoming is “Welcome to the Jungle: Let’s Get a Wildcat Takedown” and the spirit has been building all week with special dress up days for the high school students. Monday was PJ Day with the kids wearing pajamas; Tuesday was Opposite Dress Day, where they dress up as the opposite gender; and Wednesday was Throwback in Sports Day, where students don old uniforms.

Tuesday was also the traditional picture day for the elementary school in Rippey so it was “dress up days” for the younger grades.

All the grades got into the act today with Class Color Day: kindergarten—green; first—blue; second—purple; third—red; fourth—yellow; fifth—pink; sixth—yellow; seventh—orange; eighth—brown; ninth (freshmen)—purple; tenth (sophomores)—red; eleventh (juniors)—blue; and 12th (seniors)—pink.

The Homecoming King and Queen will be crowned tonight at a pep rally and coronation ceremony at the high school gym in Grand Junction. The annual parade is tomorrow at 2 p.m. in Grand Junction and the Homecoming Dance is Saturday night from 8-11 p.m. in the GJ gym.

District 7 Standings (District, Overall)
East Greene 2-0, 4-0
Coon Rapids-Bayard 2-0, 3-1
Glidden-Ralston 2-0, 3-1
Walnut 1-1, 1-3
Boyer Valley 1-1, 3-1
Ar-We-Va 0-2, 1-3
Woodbine 0-2, 1-3
Charter Oak-Ute 0-2, 0-4

Friday, Sept. 17 results:
Boyer Valley, Dunlap 28, Ar-We-Va, Westside 27
Coon Rapids-Bayard 58, Woodbine 27
East Greene, Grand Junction 68, Charter Oak-Ute 12
Glidden-Ralston 62, Walnut 0

EYE ON GJ SAYS: Glidden-Ralston has been a longtime rival of EG with both teams having been in the same conference together since the fall of 1976, with the exception of last year when GR moved to the Rolling Hills while EG was in its final year in the West Central. Most years they were grouped in the same football division with the exception of the early 00s, when EG was in 8-Man and GR was in Class A. Back in 1976, GR was coming off its Class 1A state championship the previous fall. Glidden has long been a football town and Glidden HS and Glidden-Ralston HS have won numerous football titles. The win tally in the EG-GR gridiron rivalry tilts pretty heavily toward the Wildcats. It’s possible that East Greene has not beaten GR since the Hawks’ playoff teams of the late 1980s.

GR switched from Class A to 8-man in 2004 and qualified for the playoffs that year, the first of four successive district crowns and playoff spots, punctuated by the 8-Man state championship in 2005. GR has never finished lower than fourth in the division standings. So GR brings a strong heritage into tomorrow night’s game but the Hawks’ will have the home field advantage and hopefully a big Homecoming crowd to spur them on. Look for GR to bring a good contingent too, as the Wildcat fans are looking to get back on the post-season trail after falling in the sub-state round the last two years.

Both teams have picked up votes in the Associated Press rankings for 8-man football the last two weeks and are among five or six teams just behind the ranked leaders.

This is another “battle of the Lincoln” in D7 as the two schools are both situated in towns on the historic Lincoln Highway. Karber Field is actually right on the historic original highway which runs in conjunction with Iowa Highway 144 north-south through Grand Junction (from Main Street) before turning west toward Jefferson at the southwest corner of GJ at the original Camp Cozy (known locally as Miller’s for the longtime Standard Oil service station there next to the Star Motel, a later name for Camp Cozy).

Hawks Blank BV 26-0; Now 3-0

EG ONLY UNBEATEN TEAM IN DISTRICT 7

East Greene blanked Boyer Valley (Dunlap) 26-0 tonight in Grand Junction to win its District 7 opener. The Hawks are now 3-0 and travel to Charter Oak-Ute next week to face the Bobcats (0-3), who lost to Walnut tonight 54-25.

Friday, Sept. 10 Scores:
East Greene 26, Boyer Valley 0
Coon Rapids-Bayard 46, Ar-We-Va 7
Glidden-Ralston 58, Woodbine 14
Walnut 54, Charter Oak-Ute 25

District 7 Standings
East Greene 1-0, 3-0
Coon Rapids-Bayard 1-0, 2-1
Glidden-Ralston 1-0, 2-1
Walnut 1-0, 1-2
Boyer Valley 0-1, 2-1
Ar-We-Va 0-1, 1-2
Woodbine 0-1, 1-2
Charter Oak-Ute 0-1, 0-3

Next Friday’s Games (Sept. 17)
East Greene @ Charter Oak-Ute
Ar-We-Va @ Boyer Valley
Walnut @ Glidden-Ralston
Woodbine @ Coon Rapids-Bayard

Hawks Take 2-0 Mark Into D7 Opener

EG FACES BOYER VALLEY IN 'LINCOLN LEAGUE' BATTLE

Two key wins over non-district opponents Melcher-Dallas and Twin Cedars (Bussey) give East Greene some serious momentum heading into tonight’s district opener in Grand Junction.

The Hawks can use the home field advantage to counter-act the offensive prowess of Boyer Valley (Dunlap), which has rolled by its first two opponents, 82-12 (Whiting) and 52-32 (Kingsley-Pierson). This is the first-ever matchup between East Greene and Boyer Valley in football or any other athletic contest.

Boyer Valley is in its first year of 8-man competition, dropping down from Class A where it racked up a 4-5 record and a 2-4 mark in District 8 action in 2009. BV is one of seven teams that switched to 8-man this year and so far they have a combined 11-2 record and one of those two losses was BV’s defeat of Kinsley-Pierson.

Along with BV and Kingsley-Pierson, the other newcomers to “8-ball” this year as are Newell-Fonda, River Valley (Correctionville), Fremont-Mills (Tabor), Midland (Wyoming) and Tripoli.

Last week EG racked up 336 yards and 13 first downs in beating Twin Cedars, a District 5 team, on the Sabers’ home field near Bussey. Schyler Bardole led the rushing brigade with 182 yards on 17 carries and 3 touchdowns. Tory Beger had 12 carries for 49 yards and Tyler Cooklin rushed five times for 25 yards. Beger and Cooklin split the quarterbacking duties with Beger going 3-8 for 65 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception and Cooklin good on 1 of 5 passes for 12 yards and 1 interception.

Beger and Bardole each had a big night on defense with 16 and 12 tackles, respectively. Cooklin snared two interceptions and ran one back for a touchdown. He also had a good night on kick returns with 91 yards, one of which he scored a TD.

EG is now 2-0 on the season and one of just 18 (of 65 total) undefeated teams in 8-man football.

The Hawks opened the season on Aug. 28 with a big 48-6 win over Melcher-Dallas at Karber Field in Grand Junction. The Hawks put 42 points on the board before allowing the Saints to cross the goal line. Bardole led the rushing attack with 172 yards and three touchdowns, while Cooklin passed for 99 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those were caught by Nic Nicolaisen and the other by Bardole.

EG’s defense picked off three passes from MD quarterback Robert Bingham who threw for over 2,000 yards last season. Cooklin had two of the interceptions and Nicolaisen nabbed the other. Bingham went 16-29-3 for 203 yards.

Elsewhere in non-district games, Glidden-Ralston suffered a tough triple-overtime loss to Newell-Fonda, 46-40. The week before GR had rolled over Grandview Park Baptist (Des Moines) 71-7. CRB opened its season with a loss to No. 4-ranked Northeast Hamilton, 68-27, but bounced back last Friday with a 66-25 drubbing of GPB, which is in District 5 along with Melcher-Dallas and Twin Cedars.

EYE ON GJ SAYS: Tonight's game features two real-deal, D7 “Lincoln League” schools, as the Bulldogs will be motoring east on Highway 30 to Grand Junction for this match-up of high schools located in towns on U.S. Highway 30, the historic “Lincoln Highway.”

Boyer Valley was formed when Dunlap CSD merged with Dow City-Arion CSD a few years back, and Dow City-Arion was a merger from a generation before that. All three towns are on Highway 30 west of Denison — first Arion, then Dow City (just two miles down the road) and then Dunlap. The next town west is Woodbine, also a member of D7 and a “Lincoln League” school and town. Woodbine hosts Glidden-Ralston tonight, creating another head-to-head “battle of the Lincoln.” The fifth LL team located on U.S. 30, Ar-We-Va (Westside), hosts CRB.

Tonight’s Lincoln League (District 7) slate:
Boyer Valley @ East Greene
Coon Rapids-Bayard @ Ar-We-Va
Charter Oak-Ute @ Walnut
Glidden-Ralston @ Woodbine

District 7 Standings (Non-District Games)
East Greene 2-0
Boyer Valley 2-0
Ar-We-Va 1-1
Coon Rapids-Bayard 1-1
Glidden-Ralston 1-1
Woodbine 1-1
Charter Oak-Ute 0-2
Walnut 0-2

Sept. 3 Results:
Ar-We-Va 50, River Valley (Correctionville) 20
Boyer Valley 52, Kingsley-Pierson 32
Coon Rapids-Bayard 66, Grandview Park Baptist 25
East Greene 40, Twin Cedars (Bussey) 22
Woodbine 58, Whiting 20
Newell-Fonda 46, Glidden-Ralston 40 (3 OT)
Remsen-Union 68, Charter Oak-Ute 7
Nishnabotna (Farragut) 68, Walnut 26

Aug. 27 Results:
Boyer Valley 82, Whiting 12
East Greene 48, Melcher-Dallas 6
Glidden-Ralston 71 Grandview Park Baptist 7
Kingsley-Pierson 31, Ar-We-Va 24
River Valley 55, Charter Oak-Ute 14
Northeast Hamilton (Blairsburg) 68, Coon Rapids-Bayard 27
East Mills (Malvern) 40, Woodbine 28
Sidney 50, Walnut 25

EG Beats PC; Ups Mark to 4-3

HAWKETTES NOW 1-1 IN ROLLING HILLS CONFERENCE

East Greene rolled over Paton-Churdan in three straight games on Thursday, Sept. 2, to up its season record to 4-3 and even its Rolling Hills Conference mark at 1-1.

The 25-10, 25-19, 25-16 win was the first head-to-head conference competition between EG and PC since 2007, when both teams were members of the West Central Conference. The two teams had met earlier this season at a tournament in Coon Rapids, where the Hawkettes prevailed in a best-of-three match, 21-15 and 21-17.

Last week’s conference tilt at Churdan saw the Hawkettes make a solid showing at the net with 18 kills in 66 attempts and 9 errors. Molly Neese, middle hitter, and Tia Lowe, outside hitter, led the charge. Neese was 5 of 21 with 2 errors and Lowe was 6 of 20 with 2 errors. Middle hitter Chelsi Wilkens had a strong showing with 4 kills in 13 attempts and two errors.

Katlynn Gannon led in digs with 15 and Neese had 12. The Hawkettes had some trouble at the service line however, connecting on just 65 of 75 for 60%, but they did score 10 aces. Jasmine Kinney went 27-28 with 4 aces and Neese was a perfect 18-18 with 3 aces.

EG opened conference play two nights earlier, Tuesday, Aug. 31, against Orient-Macksburg in Rippey. The visitors went home with the win, 18-25, 25-17, 26-25, 25-18.

The Hawkettes opened the season on a bright note on Thurs., Aug. 26, when they squeaked out a win over Southeast Webster-Grand (Burnside) in Rippey that was extended by extra points in the fifth and final set in the best-of-five-sets match. EG came back nicely after winning the first set and then dropping the next two. The final match tally was 25-20, 20-25, 24-26, 27-25, 19-17.

The following Saturday, EG went on the road to Coon Rapids where they went 2-2 on the day, finishing second in their pool play and advancing on to the semifinal round. Along with the win over PC, the Hawkettes downed Ankeny Christian 21-8, 21-11 and fell to Coon Rapids-Bayard, 21-12, 21-12 in pool play to advance to the semifinal round along with CRB, Adair-Casey and Iowa Christian Academy.

All matches in pool play and the championship round (semifinal and final matches) were best of three. The No. 1 team in each pool was matched against the No. 2 team of the opposite pool. Adair-Casey eliminated EG 25-23, 25-21 to advance to the championship match against Iowa Christian, a 25-22, 25-18 winner over Coon Rapids-Bayard. Adair-Casey went home with the trophy with a 19-25, 25-21, 15-11 win over Iowa Christian in the final.

EYE ON GJ SAYS: The tournament in Coon Rapids offers a good snapshot on the overall volleyball season and how it might unfold in the weeks ahead. CRB has had great success in past years, advancing to state and winning a West Central Conference crown, while EG entered the tournament as the defending champs but looking at many holes to fill in its lineup. CRB was ranked No. 10 in the preseason poll.

Iowa Christian returned four starters this year, led by junior Karlie Schut, an all-district and all-conference pick last year as a sophomore, so it was not that surprising when the Blazers upended CRB in the tournament semifinals. The Crusaders were coming off a 20-10 season and a fifth-place showing (5-4) in the West Central in 2009, a year beyond winning the league at 9-0 and then winning the regional to advance to state.

The big surprise though is Adair-Casey. The Bombers tied for third at 6-3 in the RH last year, but it was pretty much expected they would fall in line again this year behind ICA and especially the combined EHK/Exira squad, considering that Exira had won the league on its own last year with an unblemished mark.

Not the case, though, as AC took the title at the CRB tourney and is still undefeated on the season at 7-0, and tied for first place in the RH.

All three teams are making their mark on the area and state. AC is ranked No. 9 in Class 1A by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union while ICA is 14th and CRB is 15th.

The irony here is that in the last few years, the Rolling Hills has typically had a ranked team in volleyball and basketball (usually Exira) while the West Central has had several teams ranked in either 1A and 2A (often both) in basketball and softball, and one or two in volleyball — usually more than the RH has no matter what the sport. And now the first year that EG moves to the Rolling Hills and in its very first sports season there — two RH teams are ranked!....and just one from the West Central. Go figure. Unlucky break or spirited challenge?

Either way, coach Carly Tiffany is doing a great job of blending her five senior veterans with younger players Wilkens, a freshman, and sophomores Tori Lowe, Brittany Gunn and Liz Gunn.

After the CRB tournament, it’s clear that AC and ICA are the leading contenders for the conference crown. The real surprise is the new super-sized Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira squad, which went winless in four matches in the CRB tournament in addition to dropping a non-conference match to CRB the following Monday. EHKE lost the 7th place match to Ankeny Christian to finish last in the eight-team CRB tournament. PC lost to St. Mary’s (Storm Lake) in the fifth place game, to finish the day 1-3 and in sixth place in the tourney.

EHKE has come back, however, to win its two first conference tilts over Walnut and Paton-Churdan and a non-conference match against AHST (Avoca).

Rolling Hills Conference Standings
(Records through Saturday, Sept. 4, Conf./NonConf.)
Adair-Casey 2-0, 7-0
Iowa Christian Academy 2-0, 5-2
Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira 2-0, 3-5
East Greene 1-1, 4-3
CAM (Anita) 1-1, 1-1
Orient-Macksburg 1-1, 1-1
Ankeny Christian Academy 1-1, 2-4
Glidden-Ralston 0-2, 2-7
Paton-Churdan 0-2, 1-5
Walnut 0-2, 1-8

HAWKS GO 2-0, BEAT TWIN CEDARS 40-22