Golden Hawks, Tigers rise in week two rankings

The Union area high school volleyball season continues to truck along here in the early season.

With the release of the Iowa High School Volleyball Rankings by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, two area teams find themselves inside the top 15 in the week two rankings.

Mid-Prairie, who was originally ranked No. 14, moves up to No. 10 in Class 3A. New London finds itself inside the top 15 for the first time this season, gracing the No. 15 spot. Winfield-Mt. Union was previously ranked No. 15, but the Wolves have dropped out of the rankings.

The rankings are sure to change coming into week three, but both teams have had a tough road thus far, playing some of the states best.

Mid-Prairie (8-4, 1-0) split with West Burlington, No. 4 Class 2A, early in the season and this past weekend the Golden Hawks faced numerous ranked opponents at the Mount Vernon Tournament.

The Golden Hawks fell to Des Moines Christian, who is No. 2 in Class 3A, in their first match of the tournament, 11-21 and 17-21.

In their second match, Mid-Prairie fell short to the No. 14 team in Class 2A, Beckman Catholic, in three sets, 16-21, 21-16 and 9-15.

Their third loss of the tournament came from Center Point-Urbana in three sets, 15-21, 21-18 and 7-15.

Mid-Prairie bounced back in its final two match though, downing Ottumwa, 21-16, 21-8, and sweeping the No. 3 team in Class 4A, Waverly-Shell Rock, 21-18, 21-17.

The Golden Hawks have quite the resume in the early season and have been competitive in every contest here in 2022.

As for New London (4-2, 1-0), it’s been an eventful road as well.

New London won its first two head to heads, beginning with a win over North Mahaska and ending with a sweep of then No. 1 Class 1A, now No. 8 ranked Holy Trinity Catholic, 21-25, 25-17 and 25-22.

The Tiger’s victory over the Crusaders propelled them into the top 15.

Over the weekend the Tigers competed in a tournament at Muscatine. New London picked up wins over Burlington, 21-10, 21-11, and Durant, 21-18 and 21-8.

Their two losses in the tournament came from West Liberty, 8-21, 13-21 and host Muscatine in three sets, 27-25, 22-24 and 11-15.

New London has a big matchup Thursday, as the Tigers will take on Class 1A No. 7 Notre Dame. The Tigers also will battle with West Burlington later in the season.

The full rankings can be found below. Each of the teams records are base on their records as of September 1.

Class 1A

School, Record, Last Week

1) North Tama, 5-0, 2

2) Springville, 4-1, 3

3) Gladbrook-Reinbeck, 3-0, 4

4) Dunkerton, 2-0, 5

5) Ankeny Christian, 7-1, 6

6) Gehlen Catholic, 3-1, 7

7) Burlington Notre Dame, 8-2, 8

8) Holy Trinity Catholic, 6-4, 1

9) Sidney, 7-2, 9

10) Newell-Fonda, 3-0, NR

11) Tri-Center, 4-3, 14

12) Tripoli, 1-1, 13

13) Stanton, 5-2, 12

14) Council Bluffs St. Albert, 3-2, NR

15) New London, 1-0, NR

Dropped Out: Janesville (10), AGWSR (11), Winfield-Mount Union (15)

Class 2A

1) Dike-New Hartford, 7-1, 1

2) Western Christian, 6-3, 2

3) Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont, 9-0, 3

4) West Burlington, 5-1, 4

5) Denver, 4-1, 15

6) Lisbon, 6-1, 5

7) Missouri Valley, 4-1, 7

8) Sumner-Fredericksburg, 2-1, 6

9) Wapsie Valley, 9-1, 10

10) South Hardin, 9-0, NR

11) Hinton, 2-0, 11

12) Grundy Center, 7-1, 12

13) Wilton, 5-1, NR

14) Beckman Catholic, 5-1, 14

15) Kuemper Catholic, 7-2, 9

Dropped Out: Underwood (8), South Central Calhoun (13)

Class 3A

1) Mount Vernon, 3-0, 1

2) Des Moines Christian, 5-0, 2

3) West Liberty, 5-2, 3

4) Sioux Center, 3-0, 5

5) Davenport Assumption, 3-2, 4

6) Unity Christian, 0-0, 6

7) Osage, 2-0, 10

8) Sheldon, 3-1, 7

9) Union, 9-0, 13

10) Mid-Prairie, 5-1, 14

11) Nevada, 1-4, 11

12) New Hampton, 4-3, 8

13) Van Meter, 5-2, NR

14) Solon, 3-1, NR

15) Forest City, 2-0, NR

Dropped Out: Davis County (9), Atlantic (12), Benton (15)

Class 4A

1) Marion, 3-0, 1

2) Cedar Rapids Xavier, 2-0, 3

3) Waverly-Shell Rock, 6-0, 8

4) Decorah, 8-0, 9

5) North Scott, 5-0, 10

6) Lewis Central, 4-0, 11

7) Western Dubuque, 5-0, 12

8) Bishop Heelan, 0-1, 2

9) West Delaware, 4-4, 4

10) Knoxville, 4-0, 13

11) Indianola, 9-0, 14

12) Humboldt, 5-3, 6

13) Clear Creek-Amana, 6-3, 7

14) North Polk, 6-1, 14

15) Norwalk, 4-1, NR

Dropped Out: Bondurant-Farrar (5)

Class 5A

1) Cedar Falls, 6-1, 2

2) Pleasant Valley, 10-1, 3

3) Ankeny, 8-1, 5

4) Iowa City Liberty, 6-3, 1

5) Ankeny Centennial, 6-3, 11

6) Dowling Catholic, 6-3, 10

7) Waukee Northwest, 3-3, 6

8) Johnston, 2-2, 4

9) Valley, 4-3, NR

10) Waukee, 2-3, NR

11) Urbandale, 4-4, 7

12) Cedar Rapids Prairie, 1-3, 9

13) Bettendorf, 3-2, 8

14) Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln, 3-5, 12

15) Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 2-3, 14

Dropped Out: Sioux City North (13), Iowa City High (15)