By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
Volleyball: Mount Pleasant Crowned SEC Champs:
The Mount Pleasant volleyball team earned themselves a Southeast Conference title last night, when the Panthers knocked off top-seeded Burlington and Fairfield, at Mount Pleasant High School.
The Panthers turned the round-robin tournament on it’s head with an upset over SEC leader Burlington in their first game of the night, topping the Greyhounds in sweep fashion, 25-22 and 25-15.
Mount Pleasant then came back with a sweep over Fairfield, 25-22 and 25-15, as well.
The pair of wins propelled Mount Pleasant to 4-1 over the two-day tournament, meaning they’d need a little help to earn themselves the conference crown.
The Panthers needed Burlington, a team they had beat earlier in the night, to defeat Fort Madison — and the Greyhounds came through.
Burlington won in three-sets, which secured the SEC Title for Dave Streeter’s bunch.
The conference crown was the first for the Maroon and Gold since 2013.
Now, they’ll look to carry that momentum into a first-round playoff matchup next week against Fort Madison on the 20th — you can hear that game, and all area playoff volleyball volleyball games on KILJ-FM.
W-MU Earns SEISC-N Division Title:
The Winfield-Mount Union volleyball team made history last night, earning their first North Division title since 1996 when the Wolves swept Mediapolis at Mediapolis High School.
Winfield hardly broke a sweat, winning 25-11, 25-16, 25-16 to not only earn the crown, but it was also their first win over Mediapolis since 2001.
Outside hitter Jenna Buffington led the wolves with 12 kills, while Melina Oepping chipped in with six.
Bradie Buffington and Madie Anderson each added four kills.
Josie Wolter paced the Mediapolis attack with 12 kills.
The win improved Winfield-Mount Union to 21-6 overall and 8-0 in the SEISC-North Division.
They’ll host Hillcrest Academy next Monday in Round One of the Class 1A Regional Volleyball Tournament.
Prep Volleyball Round-Up:
Central Lee 3, #6 (1A) Holy Trinity 2
The last season slide continued on for Holy Trinity as Central Lee rallied for a five-set win over the Crusaders winning 19-25, 23-25, 25-19, 27-25 and 15-6.
Mya Merschman took the game over in the late stages, finishing with 26 kills and nine blocks.
Claire Pothitakis paced the offense for Holy Trinity with 21 kills while Kassi Randolph ended the night with six kills, 22 assists, 24 digs and four blocks.
Holy Trinity will look to gain some momentum before their postseason run when they head to the Mediapolis tournament, first serve is set for 5:00 p.m.
#10 (1A) New London 3, Cardinal 0
No. 10 New London clinched a share of the SEISC-South Division title when they easily swept Cardinal last night 25-12, 25-15 and 25-14.
Paris Wilka was the star of the show for the Tigers last night, leading the offense with nine kills. Marah Hartrick chipped in with seven, while Sofie Reighard and Keaura Williams had five apiece.
New London will be off until their Class 1A-Region 5 First Round tilt at home against Moulton-Udell.
You can listen to the game on KILJ-FM.
Notre Dame 3, West Burlington 2
Notre Dame stayed hot as the Nikes rallied for a five-set thriller over the equally as hot West Burlington Falcons last night at Father Minett Gymnasium.
Notre Dame picked up wins in sets one, three and five as they ended the dreams of an outright SEISC-South Division Title for the Falcons.
Josie Bentz paced the Nike attack with a game-high 21 kills while Katy Stephens added 20.
Sydney Marlow had 14 kills to lead West Burlington.
The win was the Nikes’ seventh in a row. It improved them to 12-5 overall and 4-3 in conference play
West Burlington dropped to 18-4 and 6-2 in conference action.
Panthers Boys’, Girls’ Set for SEC XC Meet:
The Mount Pleasant Panther boys’ and girls’ cross country teams, off today, will look to continue their string of conference success when they take part in the SEC Cross Country Championships tomorrow.
The conference meet will run at Washington Golf and Country Club, in Washington.
Racing will get underway at 4:00 p.m. with the middle school races.
Varsity racing will begin at 4:40 p.m. with the girls race with the boys’ to follow at 5:05 p.m.
Iowa Football to Play Two Friday Night Games, Other Scheduling Notes:
The University of Iowa football team will play two Friday contests and open the season with a 2:30 p.m. (CT) contest Saturday, October 24th at Purdue, conference officials have announced.
The schedule for the opening week of Big Ten football was announced Monday morning by the conference office, along with select Friday contests.
As has been the case in recent years, the Hawkeyes and Nebraska will meet the day after Thanksgiving in the Heroes Game.
The start time at Kinnick Stadium will be announced at a later date.
With the schedule change, Iowa and Nebraska will meet on Black Friday for the 10th consecutive year.
That streak was originally scheduled to end in 2020.
The Big Ten Conference announced in 2017 that the teams would move off the Black Friday date in 2020 and 2021.
However, the 2020 schedule was twice altered due the COVID 19 pandemic.
Iowa’s game at Minnesota, originally scheduled for Friday, Sept. 18, will be played Friday, Nov. 13.
The annual contest for Floyd of Rosedale will kick at 6 p.m. (CT).