City High, Kennedy open at 1-2

Next week's Mississippi Valley Conference volleyball opener has gained some serious sizzle.Iowa City High is No. 1 and Cedar Rapids Kennedy No. 2 in the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union's preseason Class 5A rankings, released Monday afternoon."That's a lot to live up to," Kennedy Coach Michelle Goodall said. "I like the possibilities for our team at the end of the season; I think we have the pieces to be super-fantastic."But right now, we've got a ways to go."City High, which returns three all-staters (Michaela Nelson, Rachel Rinehart and Liz Hubing) from last year's 40-4, state runner-up team, opens its season next Tuesday in an MVC Mississippi Division encounter at Kennedy.The Cougars, who have reached the state semifinals four straight years, were 30-10 last year and brings back all-state middle blockers Lexi Rogers and Jordan Calef.Kennedy opens with three matches at the MVC-MAC Challenge on Thursday at Eldridge.Five MVC teams are in the preseason 5A top 10. Cedar Falls is fourth, Dubuque Hempstead sixth, two-time defending state champion Iowa City West ninth. Two others are rated in 4A (No. 7 Dubuque Wahlert and No. 12 Cedar Rapids Xavier).Sioux City Heelan (4A), MOC-Floyd Valley (3A), Dike-New Hartford (2A) and Grundy Center (1A) also open at No. 1 in their respective classes.Heelan has advanced to state 14 straight years; the Crusaders were 3A runners-up last year. Dike-New Hartford is the defending 2A champion; Grundy Center reached the 2A semifinals last year.Five teams from the Wamac Conference East Division are rated -- Solon is third, Maquoketa sixth, West Delaware eighth, DeWitt Central 10th in 4A, Mount Vernon is eighth in 3A. Wamac West teams Marion and Clear Creek Amana are 14th and 15th in 4A.

PRESEASON VOLLEYBALL RANKINGS

Class 5A1. Iowa City High2. Cedar Rapids Kennedy3. Ankeny4. Cedar Falls5. Urbandale6. Dubuque Hempstead7. Clinton8. Pleasant Valley9. Iowa City West10. West Des Moines Dowling

Class 4A1. Sioux City Heelan2. Harlan3. Solon4. Waverly-Shell Rock5. Charles City6. Maquoketa7. Dubuque Wahlert8. West Delaware9. North Scott10. DeWitt Central11. Fairfield12. Cedar Rapids Xavier14. Marion15. Clear Creek Amana

Class 3A1. MOC-Floyd Valley2. Mediapolis3. West Liberty4. Sioux Center5. Union6. Nevada7. Davenport Assumption8. Mount Vernon9. Unity Christian10. East Sac County11. Cascade12. South Central Calhoun13. Estherville-Lincoln Central14. Red Oak15. Bondurant-Farrar

Class 2A1. Dike-New Hartford2. Western Christian3. Carroll Kuemper4. Sumner-Fredericksburg5. Council Bluffs St. Albert6. West Branch7. Ridge View8. Woodward-Granger9. Treynor10. Hinton11. Durant12. IKM-Manning13. Iowa City Regina14. Lake Mills15. Edgewood-Colesburg

Class 1A1. Grundy Center2. LeMars Gehlen3. Janesville4. Fort Madison Holy Trinity5. Tripoli6. Bellevue Marquette7. Stanton8. East Union9. Bedford10. Lisbon11. New London12. Twin Cedars13. Central Lyon14. Preston15. Winfield-Mount Union