Friday notes: Cougars drop 2 of 3

A little luster has chipped off next Tuesday's 1-vs.-2 volleyball match.Class 5A second-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy dropped two of three matches at the MVC-MAC Challenge on Thursday at Eldridge.The Cougars (1-2) defeated Bettendorf, but tumbled against Pleasant Valley and North Scott.It was not a banner day for the MVC in general. Ninth-ranked Iowa City West, the two-time defending state champion, went 0-3. So did Cedar Rapids Prairie.Add it up, and the final ledger was MAC 8, MVC 1.Kennedy hosts No. 1 Iowa City High in an MVC Mississippi Valley showdown. The Little Hawks were state runners-up last year, and Tuesday's match will be their season debut.

Prairie hosts 23-team cross country meetThe Cedar Rapids Prairie Invitational cross country meet continues to get a little bigger -- and probably a little better -- each year.Saturday's event will consist of 23 girls teams and 21 boys squads. They will be separated into three divisions.The field contains nine ranked boys teams (led by Linn-Mar, Cedar Rapids Washington, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Iowa City West and Monticello) and eight on the girls' side (paced by Linn-Mar, Cedar Falls, West, Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Pella).Josh Evans of Linn-Mar was the 4A boys state runner-up last year. Lauren Benzing of Solon was the 2A girls champion in 2010, the 3A runner-up last season. Both won individual titles at Prairie last year.Mariah Kauder of Cascade was the 2A girls runner-up last year.The meet begins at 8:30 a.m., with the starting line just south of John Wall Field. The races finish on the track.Varsity girls run at 9:45, the boys take off at 10:10.