Regional Volleyball Preview: 1A and 2A Semifinals

The regional volleyball tournament continues Friday night as teams in 1A and 2A fight to clinch their spots in the regional final.

In 1A-Region 3, Stanton will be home for the third time this postseason when they take on the Griswold Tigers.

The Viqueens breezed past Bedford in the quarterfinals Tuesday night at home to reach the semifinals.

Griswold meanwhile rallied from two games down to defeat the Essex Trojanettes Tuesday night in Griswold. The Tigers are making their second straight appearance in the regional semifinals. Last year, they lost in the semifinals to Treynor.

Both teams are meeting each other for the first time this season.

Leading the way for Griswold is Candice Howell, who has 179 kills this season. Griswold also has players like Kinzey Nicklaus, Kayla Kirchhoff and Melodie Anstey.

Stanton have key players like Carmen Subbert, Erin DeKay, Heidi Vanderholm and Macy Elwood. Against Bedford Tuesday night, Subbert had 22 kills.

The winner of Stanton/Griswold plays the winner of Murray and East Union in the regional final. That final will take place Wednesday night in Creston.

Region 2 of Class 1A will have Fremont-Mills in the semifinal as they host Boyer Valley. The other semifinal will be LeMars Gehlen against Kingsley-Pierson. The winners play Wednesday night in Onawa.

In Class 2A-Region 4, Southwest Valley looks to continue their postseason when they travel to Greenfield (Nodaway Valley) Friday night and take on Des Moines Christian in the semifinals.

Southwest Valley picked up its first postseason win Tuesday night when they swept Mount Ayr 3-0 in front of a home crowd in Corning.

Des Moines Christian meanwhile has been on a roll as of late. Their last losses took place at a tournament in Pella Sept. 28. Since then, they have defeated Madrid, West Central Valley and Van Meter.

Des Moines Christian, who was ranked in the IGHSAU poll at one point during the season, had a first round bye and defeated Earlham in the quarterfinals 3-1 on Tuesday night.

This will be the first meeting between the two teams this season.

Southwest Valley will have to contend with several players, including senior blocker Erika Veurink, who leads the West Central Valley conference in blocks with 85 (60 assists, 25 solo).

The Timberwolves also need to contend with Brittany Zimmer, who leads the West Central Valley conference in assists with 681.

Southwest Valley will turn to their group of hitters, led by junior hitter Marie Palmer. The junior is second in the Pride of Iowa conference in kills with 313. Sydney Maynes, Kelsie Kinman and Mikayla Dolch will also play big roles Friday.

The other semifinal in 2A-region 4 will be BGM against Eddyville-Blakesburg, which takes place in Eddyville. 

The winners of both semifinal matches will face off Wednesday night in Pella.