Volleyball's conference call is Saturday

Another Saturday. Same site. Same contenders.Fresh off a championship at the Westside Invitational tournament, Iowa City West enters Saturday's Mississippi Valley Conference volleyball tournament at Cedar Rapids Jefferson as the favorite -- whether Coach Kathy Bresnahan thinks so or not."I think it's wide-open," Bresnahan said. "I know, we'll probably have a target on our backs, but it doesn't seem to bother our kids much."West, ranked No. 2 in Class 4A, headlines a list of contenders that includes No. 3 Dubuque Hempstead, No. 4 Cedar Rapids Kennedy and No. 5 Iowa City High.Cedar Rapids Washington, Waterloo East, Linn-Mar, Dubuque Wahlert and Cedar Falls also are threats."It's crazy," said Kennedy Coach Michelle Goodall. "Every bracket is going to be tough. There are going to be some upsets."West (27-2), Kennedy (26-3) and Hempstead (24-3) were at the Westside -- also at Jefferson -- on Saturday. West did not drop a set all day.The MVC is one of five area leagues to crown tournament champions this week.DeWitt Central and Benton Community will host Wamac Conference pool play Thursday. The top eight teams advance into the championship bracket Saturday at Mount Vernon, beginning at 4 p.m.Class 2A No. 1 Mount Vernon is a heavy favorite, with Marion, West Delaware and Williamsburg among the chief threats.The Mustangs (28-1) absorbed their first loss Saturday to West in the Westside semifinals."They kids took that as a challenge to make some improvements," said Mustangs Coach Shirley Ryan. "You never think of a loss as a good thing, but you pay closer attention to the losses and see how well you regroup."The Cedar Valley Conference tournament concludes Thursday. The Tri-Rivers tournament (at Delhi) and the Northeast Iowa tournament (at Charles City) are Saturday.