By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
Holy Trinity Headlines Initial IGHSAU Volleyball Rankings:
Another year, more dominance expected for Holy Trinity volleyball and head coach Melissa Freesmeier.
The Crusaders were tabbed as the preseason #1 team in Class 1A after finshing last year 29-11 with a trip to the state semifinals as well.
The Crusaders return loads of firepower from last years club, including outside hitters Claire Pothitakis and Brooke Mueller, setters Kassi Randolph and Bailey Hellweg and defensive specialists Maria Rauenbuehler and Taylor Crabtree.
Holy Trinity will start their season this Saturday when they travel to Bondurant for the Skip Anderson tournament.
They’ll battle Ames and Woodward-Granger.
While Holy Trinity opens at #1, Maureen Heath and New London were tabbed as the preseason #4 team in Class 1A.
The Tigers finished last season 29-9 and return Sofie Reighard, Keaura Williams and Kyra Linkin, among others.
New London will begin their State Tournament or bust quest on Saturday when they host Danville, Highland and Pekin.
West Burlington Wins WACO Volleyball Tournament, Full Results:
The West Burlington varsity volleyball team took home the gold yesterday, while WACO finished second in the eight-team WACO varsity volleyball tournament — which opened the 2020 season for all clubs.
WACO, the top seed, picked up a 2-0 win over Columbus to open the tournament and consequently earned a 2-0 over Van Buren to advance to the championship round.
West Burlington opened their tournament run with a sweep of Sigourney and a 2-1 semifinal win over Centerville.
It was 2-0 sweep for the Falcons in the finals, winning 21-15, 21-15.
Van Buren went over Centerville for a 3rd place finish.
In the consolation bracket Columbus took down Pekin 2-1, while Wapello swept Sigourney 2-0.
WACO volleyball, now 2-1, will be off until September 3rd, when they will travel to Wapello for a varsity triangular.
Mount Pleasant Volleyball Swept Twice in Burlington:
The Mount Pleasant volleyball team suffered a pair of losses last night to open their 2020 season falling 25-22, 25-15 to Muscatine and 25-20 and 25-16 to Muscatine at Burlington High School.
In game one against Burlington, the Panthers held 11-4 and 17-10 leads before the Greyhounds raced back into the lead.
The Panthers, 0-2 this year, will look to the right the ship on Thursday when they travel to Ottumwa for a varsity triangular.
Play will open at Evans Middle School at 5:30 p.m.
Mount Pleasant will scrap with host school Ottumwa and Davis County.
Iowa Wesleyan Soccer Signs Partnership with School in Kenya:
The Iowa Wesleyan University women’s soccer team has signed a service project partnership agreement with the Green Commandos Sports Club, scheduled to take effect on September 1st, 2020, the university has announced.
Green Sports are a soccer team based out of the Kakamega School in Kakamega County in Kenya. They have won more soccer championships than any other team in the country.
The club was formed to alleviate hardships for youth by providing equipment, paying school fees, player exchange programs, placing youths in academies and other clubs, holding camps, and creating partnerships such as this one with Iowa Wesleyan, among many other things.
Although the Tigers are hoping to find a way for coaches and student-athletes to travel to Kenya at some point next summer, the agreement’s primary focus is a cultural exchange between the student-athletes of each institution and on fundraising for the Green Commandos.
The fundraising will be done to assist the Commandos in obtaining better equipment and allowing for the ability to build better facilities.
The Wesleyan women’s soccer team is currently organizing an equipment drive and a fundraiser for the club.
MLB Scoreboard (8/24):
Toronto 6, Tampa Bay 4
Miami 11, Washington 8
Minnesota 3, Cleveland 2
Chicago Cubs 9, Detroit 3
Texas 3, Oakland 2
Milwaukee 4, Cincinnati 2
St. Louis 9, Kansas City 3
Houston 11, Los Angeles Angels 4
Colorado 3, Arizona 2