Deciphering the Iowa high school volleyball regional pairings

The pairings are out, and now the countdown to the postseason is on.

Volleyball regionals begin Oct. 17, and brackets for those regionals were released earlier this week by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.

For 40 teams, the final destination is the U.S. Cellular Center, home of the state tournament, Nov. 7-10. It will be the 27th consecutive year Cedar Rapids has hosted the event.

Some observations on each class:

Class 5A (Oct. 18, 24, 30)

* Eye on the Metro: As expected, Metro giants Cedar Rapids Jefferson and Linn-Mar were separated and will host through regionals as long as they're alive. Currently ranked No. 4, Jefferson will host the winner between Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Cedar Rapids Washington in the regional semifinals; No. 5 Linn-Mar opens with Cedar Rapids Prairie.

* Best regional final? Right now, it looks like an all-MVC matchup in Region 7 between Iowa City West and Dubuque Hempstead.

* And before that? If rankings hold, there will be two regional semifinals pitting ranked foes — Urbandale at Indianola (Region 3) and Ankeny at West Des Moines Dowling (Region 8).

Complete Class 5A brackets

Class 4A (Oct. 18, 24, 30)

* Wamac West power, clumped together. Three teams from the division (Center Point-Urbana, Independence and Marion) are ranked in the top 12, and they're all together in Region 6. If Marion gets past Iowa City Liberty in Round 1 at home, the Indians travel to Independence for a dynamite regional semifinal with the Mustangs. That winner probably goes to CPU for a regional final to face the divisional-champ Stormin' Pointers.

* SEC and the Saints. No. 1 in 4A all year (though that might change after Tuesday's loss to Dubuque Wahlert), Cedar Rapids Xavier was placed with all five teams of the Southeast Conference. Two of them (Fort Madison and Fairfield) are ranked, and both are on the opposite side of the bracket.

Complete Class 4A brackets

Class 3A (Oct. 18, 24, 30)

* Smooth path for Tipton. Currently ranked No. 5, the Tigers are gunning for their first state tournament, and they're the lone rated team in Region 8.

* Columbus forced to set sail. Waterloo Columbus is rated No. 3, but has no home matches. The Sailors open against South Hardin, at Eldora. Win that, and they draw the Union-West Delaware victor at Manchester.

* Tough opener in Region 7. The best 3A regional first-rounder in any class might be at Dyersville, where Beckman (currently 22-11) hosts Monticello (currently 20-7).

Complete Class 3A pairings

Class 2A (Oct. 17, 23, 26, 31)

* Wolverines and Wolfpack, another collision course. This isn't relevant until state, but 2A giants Dike-New Hartford and Western Christian are together again, and a meeting in the state finals seems inevitable. DNH was bumped to 3A last year, and won it. Western was in 2A, and won it.

* 'Top-8 rule' is broken. There are two instances in the 40 regions in which a bracket doesn't house a top-eight team. One of them is in 2A Region 8, which is headlined by River Valley Conference rivals Iowa City Regina and Wilton, currently 11th and 12th.

Complete Class 2A pairings

Class 1A (Oct. 17, 23, 26, 31)

* Regional-semifinal showdowns. Two of them in 1A qualify in the too-early-for-this-matchup category. In Region 8, New London and Fort Madison Holy Trinity (currently ranked fifth and sixth) are on track to collide Oct. 26 in New London. In Region 4, a likely regional-semi matchup is Montezuma at North Tama (both are in the top 10).

* Wide-open southwest corner. Sidney gave the far southwest portion of the state a 1A headliner the last two years, but with the Cowgirls' promotion to 2A, quite frankly, it's not very strong out there. Essex is the lone ranked team in Region 2, at No. 15.

Complete Class 1A pairings

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com