Tigers, Jays set for prime time showdown

CEDAR RAPIDS - Politics will be left at the door on Tuesday night a the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids. While most of the nation's eyes are on the presidential election, the communities in New London and Le Mars will be focused on something else; a first round matchup in the Class 1A state volleyball tournament, where New London will take on Gehlen Cahtolic for a spot in the semifinals.

The Tigers will enter as underdogs. New London will enter as the six seed, with Gehlen Catholic coming in at No. 3. New London has a 22-7 record and will ride an eight-game winning streak into the state tournament. Gehlen enters with a 9-1 record, having won its last 19 games.

New London is coming off a dominant performance in the Region 5 tournament. The Tigers played three games and won all of those in three-set sweeps. The Tigers earned their spot in the state tournament with a 25-18, 25-22, 26-24 sweep of fifth-ranked, and previously undefeated, Southeast Warren.

The Tigers had to play most of the regional tournament without senior hitter Sophie Reighard, who is second in the team in kills and leads the squad in blocks. Reighard, who was on quarantine, was forced to follow the games from home, including New London's three-set regional semifinal win over what was a 23-2 Melcher Dallas team.

'I listened to the entire thing,” Reighard said. 'I knew my team could win, and they did an outstanding job.”

Reighard's return was just what the doctor ordered last Wednesday, as the Tigers went toe-to-toe with the last undefeated team Class 1A. Reighard coled the team with seven kills in her first game back.

'I didn't think I was going to be able to play in another high school volleyball game,” Reighard said. 'And then I got to play in this, and we go to state.”

New London's leader at the net is sophomore middle hitter Keaura Williams. She has had a huge year for New London, going off for 219 kills and 45 blocks. Reighard sits right behind her in kills, with 139, and has a team-leading 61 blocks on the year.

The Tigers have three more players hwo had hit 100 kills or more. Paris Wilka is sitting at 126 kills. Natalie Burden has 123, and Marah Hartrick just reached triple digits, with 104.

New London's two-setter offense, led by Aliyah Christensen (478 assists) and Elly Manning (172 assists), has been tough to stop in the ladder part of the year. The Tigers' defense, led by libero Kyra Linkin (336 digs) also has been strong down the stretch after New London chose to switch it up and go to a perimeter defense in the middle of the season.

Gehlen Catholic is one of the hottest teams in Class 1A, and the Jays earned their spot by rolling through the Region 1 bracket. The Jays only lost one set all postseason, dropping the first game 25-23 against MMCRU (Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn) in the regional final before pulling through in the next three, winning 25-17, 25-14 and 25-15 for a four-set victory.

Like New London, Gehlen really spreads the ball around. The Jays have five players with 100 kills or more, with senior Rachel Lengel leading the way with 191. Other Gehlen hitters include junior Larissa Sitzmann (176 kills), junior Lauren Heying (168 kills), junior Rylee Schnepf (147 kills) and sophomore Miyah White head (100 kills).

The Jays have a solid setter in sophomore Cadence Goebel. She has dished out an incredible 577 assists.

Junior Alyssa Kolbeck leads Gehlen Catholic in digs, with 264. The Jays have five players with 100 or more digs.

Tuesday night's game will begin at 8 p.m., and will be played on Court Two, while fourth-seeded Gladbrook-Reinbeck and fifth-seeded Springville play on Court One. The winner of Tuesday night's game will go on to play seventh-seeded Burlington Notre Dame, which received a first-round bye due to second-seeded Wapsie Valley having a COVID-19 outbreak.

Every game New London would play in the Class 1A tournament will be set for an 8 p.m. start. After Tuesday, every remaining Class 1A game will be played at 8 p.m. The semifinals will be on Wednesday night with the finals taking place on Thursday.

Coach Maureen Heath will be coaching at the state tournament for the first time since 2014. She says her team has enough talent to make some noise on Iowa's biggest stage.

'Anything can happen,” Coach Heath said. 'We've got talent on our team, and I don't think we're done yet.”