EG Prepares for ‘Second’ and ‘Third’ Seasons

RH LEAGUE TOURNEY THURSDAY; REGIONAL NEXT WEEK

East Greene dropped a tough volleyball match to Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton on Tuesday, Oct. 4 in Rippey, 25-18, 25-14, 12-25, 29-27 to fall to 3-5 in the Rolling Hills Conference. The Hawkettes were back in action on Saturday winning two matches and losing three at the Walnut Tournament, moving their season record to 7-12.

EG beat Diagonal 21-8, 21-16 and Ankeny Christian 21-6, 20-22, 15-6 while losing to Walnut 21-13, 21-14 to finish 2-1 in pool play and advance with three other teams to the championship round of the 8-team tourney. Woodbine beat the Hawkettes 21-10, 22-20 in a semifinal match. EG closed out the tourney with another loss to Walnut, 21-14, 21-19, in the third-place match to finish fourth in the tourney.

Against EEHK, the Hawkettes got off to a slow start losing the first two games but took command in the third to double up points on the Spartans winning 25-12. EG went to “extra digits” in the fourth match but fell 29-27.

The loss dropped EG from the upper division of the Rolling Hills. Coming into the contest, the Hawkettes were tied with CAM (Anita) and Orient-Macksburg for fifth place at 3-4 with EEHK just behind at 2-5. CAM upset Iowa Christian Academy that night to move to 4-4 with OM breezing by winless Ankeny Christian Academy to move to 4-4 and stay tied with CAM.

EEHK moved up to 3-5 with the win, tying with the Hawkettes for seventh place in the league. The loss to CAM was Iowa Christian’s first conference setback and allowed Adair-Casey to move into a tie for first place with ICA at 7-1.

The conference title is on the line tonight as ICA hosts EEHK in Waukee and Adair-Casey hosts Walnut. All the league games are important this time of the season as teams no longer relevant in the conference regular championship title can still jockey for a good seed in the conference tournament on Thursday in Elk Horn.

This “second season” gives some of the lower division teams another crack at each other and also at the upper division teams. The bottom four teams form a “play-in” round to create an eight-team field. The 10th place team takes on the 7th place team with the winner moving on to face the No. 2 seed. The 9th place team takes on the 8th place team with the winner advancing to face the top seed. In other quarterfinal round games, No. 3 plays No. 6 and No. 4 takes on No. 5.

A “third season” gets underway next Wednesday, Oct. 19, as regional play begins. EG travels to Southeast Webster-Grand (Burnside) in Class 1A first-round action. The winner advances to the quarterfinal round on Tuesday, Oct. 25, in Burnside to take on the winner of the Oct. 19 match in Blairsburg between CAL (Latimer) and Northeast Hamilton (Blairsburg).

Adair-Casey 7-1
Iowa Christian 7-1
Glidden-Ralston 6-2
Walnut 5-3
CAM 4-4
Orient-Macksburg 4-4
East Greene 3-5
Exira/EHK 3-5
Paton-Churdan 1-7
Ankeny Christian 0-8

Tuesday, Oct. 5:
EEHK beat EG 25-18, 25-14, 12-25, 29-27
CAM beat ICA 16-25, 25-23, 25-22, 9-25, 15-12
OM beat ANK 29-27, 16-25, 24-26, 25-17, 15-5
AC beat PC 25-19, 25-13, 25-16
GR beat WAL 23-25, 25-15, 14-25, 25-20, 15-11

EYE ON GJ SAYS: It was a tough loss for EG at the hands of EEHK. A win would have moved the Hawkettes to 4-4 in the league and provide some momentum heading into the long trip on Saturday to the Walnut Tourney and the final league match of the season tonight at Glidden-Ralston. GR beat Walnut last Tuesday to take sole command of third place in the Rolling Hills at 6-2, just behind league-leaders Adair-Casey and Iowa Christian at 7-1. Should either of those teams stumble tonight, a win over EG will move GR into a tie for second place. The Wildcats will be a heavy favorite and looking to avenge two softball thumpings from EG this summer.

The conference tournament should be a very competitive event with the co-leaders as solid favorites, but some of the middle-tier teams could have an outside shot at taking the tourney title, considering CAM’s surprise win over ICA, which came on the heels of CAM falling to Paton-Churdan, 28-26, 25-23, 9-25, 20-25, 15-8. It was the Rockettes’ first league win of the season. Look for PC to prevail tonight against Ankeny Christian in its league finale.

Considering how the conference tourney shakes out, some teams could get an updraft heading into the big payoff—the “third season” or regional tournament. Every team’s eye is on the prize of a regional championship and a trip to the state tournament in Cedar Rapids.

SWG got the better of the Hawkettes in the season opener for both teams in late August. The Eagles prevailed 25-12, 12-25, 25-14, 25-21. EG will looking to make amends for that defeat. The Hawkettes play in a very competitive conference as Iowa Christian and Adair-Casey have been ranked most of the season. Two non-conference foes, Coon Rapids-Bayard and Guthrie Center, have also been ranked at different points of the season.

SWG is 1-9 in league play and 4-15 overall.

The winner of the Burnside quarterfinal bracket moves on to the semifinal round at Woodward. Teams in the opposite quarterfinal bracket are Colo-Nesco, Madrid, Ankeny Christian and Woodward-Granger.

The winner in Woodward on Friday, Oct. 28 moves on the regional final in Adel on Tuesday, Nov. 1 to face the winner of a seminal match in Guthrie Center on Oct. 28. Teams on that side of the regional bracket are Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton, Coon Rapids-Bayard, Glidden-Ralston, Paton-Churdan, Guthrie Center, Earlham, CAM, Grandview Park Baptist and Adair-Casey.

EEHK and CRB face off in a play-in round match on Monday night with the winner advancing to a first-round match against Glidden Ralston on Wednesday. PC takes on Guthrie Center in another first round pairing in Guthrie Center on Wednesday with the winners that night meeting next Tuesday in a quarterfinal match up in Guthrie Center. Other first-round matches on that side of the bracket are Grandview Park Baptist at Adair-Casey and Earlham at CAM.

Iowa Christian Academy is in Region 4. The Trailblazers’ first-round opponent is Martensdale-St. Mary’s. Walnut and Orient-Macksburg of the Rolling Hills are both in Region 3.

The favorites to make the Region 5 final in Adel are Coon Rapids-Bayard, Adair-Casey and Guthrie Center in the Guthrie half of the bracket with Woodward-Granger as the team to beat in the Woodward side of the bracket. WG is leading the West Central Conference with a 7-0 league mark and 12-4 overall record. The Hawkettes are ranked 11th in Class 1A just behind No. 10 Adair-Casey (14-6) of the Rolling Hills and one spot in front of West Central league foe Guthrie Center (13-5). GC and WG face off on Thursday in Guthrie Center. GC is 4-3 in the West Central behind WG, DMC (7-1) and CRB and Earlham tied for third (5-2).

But Grandview Park Baptist and SWG can’t be overlooked as each plays in a predominantly 2A conference—GPB in the Heart of Iowa and SWG in the Twin Lakes. GPB has a particularly strong history in volleyball with several state tournament appearances in recent years.

Jefferson-Scranton is also in the Heart of Iowa and is in third place with a 5-2 conference record and 14-5 overall mark. The Rams host Prairie Valley (Gowrie) on Tuesday, Oct. 18, in a 2A Region 3 first round match. Roland-Story takes on winless Ogden that same night in Story City with Tuesday’s winners facing off on Tuesday, Oct. 25 in a quarterfinal match up in Story City. The winner there advances to a semifinal match up in Jefferson on Friday, Oct. 28, against either South Central Calhoun, East Sac, IKM-Manning or Kuemper. The Jefferson semifinal winner will take on the Des Moines Christian semifinal winner on Tuesday, Nov. 1, in Ames. Teams on the DMC side of the bracket are Colfax-Mingo, North Polk, CMB, Gilbert, Van Meter, Audubon, Panorama and DMC. The first four are all members of the HOI with J-S while the others are all West Central Conference teams with the exception of Audubon of the Western Iowa Conference.