Tuesday slate full of showdowns

When Teresa Kehe came to Linn-Mar High School from Loras College, her clipboard came with her.

On the back of that clipboard is a message, always visible to her players and herself:

'What have you done today to win a conference championship?”

So far, this season, plenty. The Lions (19-6 overall, 3-0 MVC Valley Division) find themselves in a first-place tie with Iowa City West (16-6, 3-0) heading into Tuesday's volleyball showdown with the Women of Troy at Linn-Mar.

It's one of three matches Tuesday that will be instrumental in determining regular-season league titles. Class 4A third-ranked Marion hosts 3A No. 3 Independence (both are 17-2, 4-0 Wamac West) while Class 5A 10th-ranked Iowa City High (11-6, 3-0 MVC Mississippi) is at No. 9 Cedar Rapids Prairie (12-5, 2-1).

'Oh yeah, definitely a big match,” said Kehe, now in her second year at Linn-Mar. 'From where these kids have been to where they are now ... to have this opportunity, it's golden for them.”

Much emphasis for most teams is on the postseason. But league titles matter, too.

They do to Kehe, and they do to her former player, Marion Coach Roxanne Paulsen.

'You set team goals, and a (divisional) title is one thing we shoot for,” Paulsen said. 'Tuesday is a big night for us.”

Wamac Conference squads occupy the top three spots in 3A (Solon, Mount Vernon and Independence) and two of the top three in 4A (West Delaware and Marion). While Marion is a traditional power, Independence is a relative newcomer to the upper crust, though the Mustangs did share the West title last year.

'They've got a lot of kids playing club ball all the way down to the middle-school level,” Paulsen said. 'They're not going away any time soon.

'We're excited about this match. Win or lose, we'll learn some things about ourselves that will help us down the road.”

At Linn-Mar, Kehe's system is starting to take hold in Year 2.

'We were getting ready to practice the other day, and one of the girls said, ‘Practice is so much fun this year,'” Kehe said. 'I asked her why, and she said, ‘We actually know what we're doing now.'

'I can't say we've arrived yet, but I'm seeing more glimpses of what we can become. West is so balanced and has incredible athletes. We'll have to block well and stay in system.”

Prairie has an opportunity to force a three-way tie for the lead in the Mississippi Division - with City High and Dubuque Hempstead. A City High win would put the Little Hawks in firm control of the race.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@sourcemedia.net