Jeff Linder

Area volleyball Super Ten rankings through matches played Oct. 15: MVC tournament champion Cedar Rapids Xavier replaces Mount Vernon at No. 1.

Games with playoff implications. Defending champions poised to return to the state finals. What is the next technological impact? The Gazette’s Jeff Linder, Jeff Johnson, K.J. Pilcher and Nathan Ford share their insights on these Iowa high school football topics.

Women’s basketball: Iowa State is No. 8 in the Associated Press preseason poll. South Carolina is No. 1; Iowa is among others receiving votes.

Here are 17 of the top Gazette-area Iowa high school football games to watch in Week 8, and how they will shape the playoff picture.

Women’s basketball: A 6-foot-5 post from Alaska, Layla Hays had her mind made up before her visit last weekend. ‘They have had a place in my heart since my first visit.’

Iowa high school football rankings: An emphatic win over Solon, coupled with Algona’s loss to Humboldt, sends Williamsburg back to the top of Class 3A.

Class 3A top-ranked Mount Vernon was knocked off by Dike-New Hartford in the semifinals of the Westside volleyball tournament Saturday. Pleasant Valley eventually won the tournament title.

Cross country: Back from a series of college visits, Tipton’s Noelle Steines powers to the girls’ title at the Bob Mudd Lynx Invitational.

The Gazette has learned that Layla Hays, a 6-foot-5 center from Wasilla, Alaska, has committed to the Iowa women’s basketball program.

Williamsburg’s Hocker-to-Heitman combo kept churning out the touchdowns, and Trenton Davies made a pivotal defensive stop in the Raiders’ 42-13 victory over Solon.

West Delaware volleyball coach Brett Mather became the seventh coach in Iowa history to earn 1,000 career victories as the Hawks improved to 30-4 with two wins Thursday.

That anticipated duel between Cedar Falls’ Jaden Merrick and Western Dubuque’s Quentin Nauman? at the Mississippi Valley Conference cross country championships. Iowa City Liberty’s Keegan Decker expanded it into a trio.

Ava Heiden, a freshman from Oregon, “has separated herself” as Iowa’s top post, meaning Hannah Stuelke can play more at her natural power-forward slot

The post-Clark, post-Bluder era has arrived for the Iowa women’s basketball program. After back-to-back runs to the NCAA championship game, the expectations bar has been lowered somewhat.

A dozen of the top Gazette-area Iowa high school football games to watch in Week 7.