Jeff Linder

North Scott concludes a brilliant week with a clean match and a 4A finals sweep of Indianola.

In only its third year, Waukee Northwest owns a Class 5A state volleyball championship. The Wolves outlasted No. 1 Dowling in five sets.

Defending Class 1A state champion Ankeny Christian returns to the finals; Eagles will face Fort Madison Holy Trinity for the title at 7 p.m. Friday.

Dominant Dike-New Hartford swept Denver for the fifth time this season in Wednesday’s Class 2A state volleyball semifinals, improving to 49-0 in matches and 107-1 in sets.

Pumped and prepared (but not overly prepared), No. 1 Mount Vernon spotted No. 4 Davenport Assumption the first set, then roared back to win Wednesday’s Class 3A state volleyball semifinal in four (23-25, 25-16, 25-15, 25-20) at Xtream Arena.

North Scott snapped Clear Creek Amana’s 46-match win streak with a 4A state volleyball semifinal sweep.

Mackenzie Dean’s consecutive offspeed kills give West Des Moines Dowling the second set, and the Maroons go on to sweep Pleasant Valley in a Class 5A semifinal.

Gritty senior Natalie Randolph overcame a torn ACL to her right knee and nearly posted a triple-double Tuesday, leading Fort Madison Holy Trinity to a Class 1A state volleyball first-round win over Don Bosco.

Freshman Elsie Hoegh co-led Boyden-Hull in kills Tuesday, and the second-ranked Comets defeated Council Bluffs St. Albert, 23-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-20, in a Class 1A quarterfinal at the state volleyball tournament Tuesday night at Xtream Arena.

Grundy Center advanced with a Class 2A state volleyball quarterfinal win over Carroll Kuemper behind Carlie Willis’ 28 kills.

Hinton’s Bailey Boeve has turned her game up another level as a sophomore. Boeve collected 16 kills, and second-ranked Hinton dusted No. 8 Aplington-Parkersburg in a straight-set Class 2A quarterfinal at the state volleyball tournament Tuesday afternoon at Xtream Arena.

Center Point-Urbana’s surge made this Class 3A state volleyball quarterfinal intriguing, but Western Christian answered for its 24th consecutive semifinal appearance.

Eighth-ranked Union pulled a surprising sweep at the state volleyball tournament Wednesday morning at Xtream Arena, taking down No. 2 Cherokee in a Class 3A quarterfinal, 25-21, 25-21, 25-15.

Down 11-5 in Game 5, sixth-ranked Lewis Central battled all the way back and toppled No. 3 Cedar Rapids Xavier in a 2-hour, 6-minute Class 4A quarterfinal marathon (25-21, 13-25, 25-19, 22-25, 17-15) at the state volleyball tournament Monday night at Xtream Arena.

Potent but erratic for much of the match, second-rated Indianola cleaned things up late and escaped the No. 7 Wolves in a five-set Class 4A quarterfinal at the state volleyball tournament Monday night at Xtream Arena.