State volleyball superlatives: The best of Tuesday's 5A and 4A quarterfinals

CEDAR RAPIDS — Eight matches down, 27 to go.

Yes, the 2018 Iowa high school state volleyball tournament has only just gotten started. Before we go too much further, though, let's take a look back at the best of day one with our state volleyball superlatives.

Best match: Dubuque Wahlert 3, Independence 2

The first day of the tournament featured only one set 5, and it came in the last match of the day.

Defending champion Dubuque Wahlert got all it could handle from Independence in the No. 4-vs.-No. 5 match, winning sets 1 and 3 only to see the Mustangs rally to tie the match each time.

Set 5 was a dandy, too. Indee trailed 11-6 but came back to force extra points before eventually falling 17-15 on an Aliyah Carter ace. Carter went back and forth with Madison Larson of Independence all night, as the two posted 31 and 34 kills, respectively.

'It was a lot of kids playing for their high-school lives, and they left everything on the floor,' Independence Coach Joe Schmitz said.

» Read more: Wahlert escapes Madison Larson and Independence in 5

Most prolific hitter: Madi Kubik, West Des Moines Valley

Nebraska commit Kubik was dominant in Valley's sweep of Ankeny.

She accumulated 22 hits on 37 attacks with only one error, good for a .568 percentage.

Kubik also led the Tigers with 14 digs and had two service aces. Ankeny Centennial is Valley's next challenge.

» Read more: Valley starts strong with sweep of Ankeny

Most prolific setter: Maddy Baxter, Cedar Rapids Jefferson

Baxter led the way with 11.25 assists per set on the tournament's first day. She finished with 45 assists and a team-high 25 digs in Jefferson's four-set loss to Linn-Mar.

Baxter, the 2018 Metro co-player of the year, was one of six senior starters for a J-Hawks club that finished 37-7 after falling to the Lions in the quarterfinals for the second straight season.

Most active defender: Dakota Miles, Dallas Center-Grimes

DCG's 5-foot-7 senior libero had 19 digs in a sweep of Bondurant-Farrar.

As a team, the Mustangs notched only three receiving errors in their first ever state tournament victory.

No B-F player reached double digits in kills and Kate Tidman, who came in averaging 4.34 per set, finished with five in the match.

» Read more: Dallas Center-Grimes earns first state volleyball victory

Best block: Cedar Falls

Both Cedar Falls and Ankeny Centennial totaled 10 blocks in their quarterfinal victories, though the Tigers did it in one fewer set, a sweep of Waukee.

Dara Hulstein and Alayna Yates both had a block solo and three block assists for CF, which extended its winning streak to 74.

» Read more: Cedar Falls sends win streak to 74

Best chant: I-O-W-A

If you had closed your eyes, you may have thought you were inside Kinnick Stadium on a fall Saturday.

An 'I-O-W-A' chant – a traditional chant for Iowa football fans after Hawkeye touchdowns – rang through the U.S. Cellular Center during the second Class 4A session.

For any Iowa fans out there four separate student sections at the Class 4A state tournament joined in the I-O-W-A chant typically done after a Hawkeye Touchdown.November 7, 2018

For any Iowa fans out there four separate student sections at the Class 4A state tournament joined in the I-O-W-A chant typically done after a Hawkeye Touchdown.@HawkeyeFootball @IowaVolleyball pic.twitter.com/xyPBmm6tKk

— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris)

Kudos to fans of Dallas Center-Grimes, Bondurant-Farrar, Dubuque Wahlert and Independence. Student section chants tend to get repetitive when you're at the tournament all day, so this was cool to hear. What do you have in store the rest of the week?

Biggest upset: Linn-Mar 3, Cedar Rapids Jefferson 1

Only one lower-seeded team won on the first day, so the Lions win this category by default.

Even after beating Jefferson in last year's quarterfinals, this had to feel sweet for a Lions team that lost twice to the J-Hawks in the regular season (3-1, 2-0).

'They were continuously the aggressors,' Jefferson co-coach Will Norton said.

Now, Linn-Mar will get its chance against No. 1 Cedar Falls in the semis. The Tigers beat the Lions thrice earlier this year, by scores of 3-0 and 2-0 in August and 2-1 at the MVC tournament in October.

» Read more: Just like last year: Linn-Mar eliminates Jefferson