5 stars of the first week of the high school volleyball season

The first week (and a half) of the 2024 Iowa high school volleyball season is history. Eight area teams are among the 46 statewide that remain unbeaten through Tuesday’s action.

So, who won Week 1? Here are five early winners:

Todd Troutman

The veteran coach at Dyersville Beckman reached — and surpassed — the 700-victory plateau Saturday when the Blazers went 5-0 at the Cascade Invitational tournament.

Three of those wins went the full three sets.

Led by junior Ava Burkle, five Beckman attackers recorded between 19 and 27 kills Saturday.

In the early stages of his 28th year, Troutman owns a 704-226 record.

Beckman (5-0) begins divisional play Thursday at Camanche, which brings us to ...

The River Valley Conference

Led by unbeatens Beckman and Camanche (4-0) in the North Division and Wilton (8-0) and Tipton (3-0) in the South, the River Valley showed out last week.

The eight North Division teams have compiled a 36-11 record (.766); the seven squads in the South Division are 28-11 (.718).

Also:

Anamosa (8-1) swept three matches at the Midland Quad on Aug. 27, then followed that with five wins in six matches at Cascade. Seniors Reise Neuhaus and Lola Holub have combined for 10.6 kills per set.

After losses to Pella and Mount Vernon last Thursday, Mid-Prairie (9-2) has won eight in a row. Jovi Evans is averaging 3.39 kills and 4.47 assists per game.

Mount Vernon

The top-ranked team in Class 3A went on a challenging three-day westward voyage last weekend, and came back happy with a 7-2 mark.

Mount Vernon swept three quality opponents at the Pella Quad on Thursday. Then came the fun stuff.

Seeded 11th in the 16-team Bellevue (Neb.) West Invitational, the Mustangs won their pool, then reached the semifinals of the championship bracket before finishing fourth overall.

Louisville commit Chloe Meester posted 5.90 kills per set with a .405 kill efficiency. Sydney Huber shares the state lead in assists (124).

West Delaware

After a week, the Hawks’ preseason No. 14 rating in Class 3A appears to be an underrating.

West Delaware won all five of its matches — sweeping four — at a tournament at Independence on Saturday.

Brooke Krogmann and Hannah Cantwell combined for 62 kills in the 11 sets.

Cedar Rapids Prairie

After an season-opening loss to Cedar Falls and dropping two of three matches at the MVC-MAC Challenge, the Hawks made a quick, decisive U-turn.

Prairie (7-4) won five of six at the Cascade Invitational (the only loss came to Beckman), then handed Dubuque Hempstead its first defeat of the season Tuesday in a four-set triumph.

Carly Wazac notched 20 kills against Hempstead; Johanna Caspers added 16.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com