‘Cool ride’ has Anamosa volleyball at 24-5 and in River Valley divisional title contention

A “cool ride,” Tierra Knepper called it.

“It’s been incredible to watch the growth of these girls,” said Knapper, who was elevated to head coach of the Anamosa High School volleyball team this season.

The growth of this program.

Anamosa can no longer be classified as an up-and-comer. The Blue Raiders are veterans now.

Their time has arrived.

“This is our chance, and I think we definitely have it in us,” Knapper said.

The champion of last week’s Lisbon Invitational, Anamosa is 24-5 overall, 4-0 in the River Valley Conference North Division. The Blue Raiders have lurked just outside of the Class 3A rankings all season.

“It would be nice to be in there,” Knapper said. “If we’d won one or two more matches, maybe at the Linn-Mar tournament (Sept. 14), we’d probably be in there.”

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As it is, Anamosa has no bad losses. All five of its defeats have come against ranked opponents, including a close call against 5A giant Pleasant Valley.

That breakthrough win … that’s still out there, somewhere.

The next big opportunity is Oct. 8. That’s when Dyersville Beckman comes to town in a match that is likely to determine the divisional champion.

“Oh yeah, we’re excited about that one,” Knapper said.

Reise Neuhaus has been a front-row force for four seasons now. She missed some time earlier this season with injury, but led the Blue Raiders with 22 kills Tuesday in a sweep of Bellevue.

Another senior, Lola Holub leads the Blue Raiders in kills per set (3.33), followed by Neuhaus (3.07), Regan Nebergall (1.79) and Olivia Miller (1.65). All four of them own a kill efficiency of .300-plus.

Sophie Sander (9.33 assists per set) and Ava Gibbs (5.71 digs per set) are the ones who set it all up.

“We’ve been to a couple tournaments that people have pulled me aside and said, ‘Whoa, you’ve got yourself a setter,’” Knapper said.

“Yeah, we’ve got ourselves a setter.”

Knepper grew up in South Dakota, then lived in California for a few years. Her family came to Iowa in 2015, and she had served as Anamosa fresh/soph coach and varsity assistant for the last few years.

Anamosa was 13-19 in 2021, when the current seniors were freshmen, then 15-21 in 2022. The big jump came last year, when they went 28-10 and advanced to the 3A regional finals before bowing to Mount Vernon.

The Blue Raiders face road divisional tests at Northeast (Thursday) and Cascade (Oct. 3).

Win those, and that Beckman showdown takes on another level of importance.

Speaking of climbing …

Two years removed from a four-win season (and just five years from a 0-27), Hillcrest Academy is 14-3.

Like Anamosa, the Ravens have climbed with a nucleus of juniors and seniors.

Malia Yoder leads the team in both kills (4.30 per set) and digs (4.25).

Hillcrest’s lone loss in Southeast Iowa Superconference North Division play came to Highland, in five sets.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com