Top teams advance to finals in SEI Superconference Volleyball Tournament

The finals of the SEI Superconference Volleyball Tournament are set, and there will be some familiar names playing for the championship on Saturday at Southeastern Community College's Loren Walker Arena.

Advancing from pool play on Thursday were Class 2A's eighth-ranked West Burlington, Class 1A's fifth-ranked Notre Dame, Class 1A's 11th-ranked New London, Class 1A's 12th-ranked Holy Trinity, as well as Wapello, WACO, Central Lee and Winfield-Mount Union.

West Burlington won the pool play at Lone Tree with a 3-1 record, while Central Lee was second. The Falcons will be favored and are seeking their first championship.

Notre Dame won the pool play at its home court, going 4-0. Wapello was second at 3-1. The Nikes are the defending champion.

Holy Trinity won pool play at Winfield with a 3-0 record, while the Wolves were second at 2-1. Holy Trinity has won the tournament eight times (Marquette won it four times before joining Aquinas at Cardinal Stritch to form Holy Trinity in 2005). W-MU won the tournament in 1995.

New London won the pool at Harmony with a 3-0 record, whie WACO was second at 2-1. New London has won the tournament six times.

On Saturday, West Burlington will play Wapello in the quarterfinals. at 5 p.m., followed by WACO versus Holy Trinity. The two winners will meet in the semifinals.

On the other side of the bracket, Central Lee will play Notre Dame at 5 p.m., followed by New London versus Winfield-Mount Union. Those two winners will meet in the semifinals.

Lone Tree pool

West Burlington beat Lone Tree, 21-9, 21-1, beat Central Lee, 21-13, 21-19 and beat Mediapolis, 21-13, 21-7.

Sophia Armstrong had 20 kills, four blocks, 10 digs and three aces  for the Falcons, while Isabelle Ritter had 11 kills and four digs, McKenna Marlow had 11 kills, 25 digs, three blocks and five aces, Brenna Beggs had five kills, Taryn Havener had three kills, four digs and four blocks, Abbey Bence had two kills, 45 assists, five digs and two aces, Lauren Summers had one kills, 19 digs and five aces, Ale Kellen had 10 digs and four aces, Carli Cline had eight digs and one ace and Lauren Glasgow had two digs and five blocks

West Burlington improved to 24-4.

Notre Dame pool

Notre Dame beat Louisa-Muscatine, 21-5, 21-6, beat Columbus, 21-11, 21-4, beat Danville, 21-12, 21-8, and beat Wapello, 21-14, 21-12.

Taryn Stephens had six kills, three aces and 15 digs for the Nikes, while Maddy Mosena had 65 assists and 10 digs, Gabby Deery had 30 kills, five aces, eight digs and 1 1/2 blocks, Aviana West had 12 kills and three dibs, Abby Korschgen had 20 kills and 3 1/2 blocks, Madalyn Knapp had three kills, 19 digs and three blocks, Ava Parkins had four aces and nine digs and Emily Stutsman had six aces and 17 digs.

Wapello beat Columbus, 21-8, 21-18, beat Danville, 21-13, 12-21, 15-8, beat Louisa-Muscatine, 21-6, 21-3 and lost to Notre Dame, 21-14, 21-12.

Jacie Hoeg had 47 assists and 19 digs for the Arrows, while Emily Hemphill had 23 kills and 43 digs, Tyra Lanz had 11 kills and three blocks, Quinn Veach had 16 kills and 15 digs and Lyv Malone had 19 digs.

Harmony pool

New London beat Hillcrest Academy, 21-7, 21-3, beat Van Buren County, 21-9, 21-12 and beat WACO, 21-19, 18-21, 15-10.

Emma Nye had three kills, three assist, 11 aces and 31 digs for the Tigers, while Elly Manning had two kills, 58 assists, one ace and 18 digs, Natalie Burden had 32 kills, five aces and 11 digs, Sophie Malott had 10 kills, two assists, three aces and 12 digs, Tysann Gipple had nine kills, two blocks, one assist and three digs, Camryn Lair had one block, one assist, one ace and four digs and Morgan Jones had 10 kills, one block, one ace and 12 digs.

Winfield-Mount Union pool

Holy Trinity beat Highland, 21-9, 21-6, beat Pekin, 26-24 and beat Winfield-Mount Union, 16-21, 21-14, 21-8.

Presley Myers had 26 kills and four blocks for the Crusaders, while Mary Kate Bendlage had 20 kills, 19 digs and three blocks, Taegan Denning had four kills, six aces and nine digs, Brooke Mueller had seven kills, six aces and seven digs, Anna Bendlage had five kills, 58 assists, 14 digs and four aces and Kayla Box had eight kills, seven digs and four blocks.

Winfield-Mount Union beat Pekin, 21-17, 21-11 and beat Highland, 21-6, 21-12 before losing to Holy Trinity.

Melina Oepping had 18 kills, two assists, six blocks and 18 digs for the Wolves, while Bradie Buffington had 10 kills, six blocks and seven digs, Keely Malone had eight kills, 40 assists, three blocks and 11 digs, Audrie Gipple had eight kills and one block, Mariana Hagmeier had seven kills five blocks and one dig, Lily Freeman had three kills, four blocks and one dig, Keetyn Townsley had one assist and 31 digs, Tessa Huston had 14 digs and Aurey Meeker had 10 digs.

Winfield-Mount Union improved to 16-6.

QUINCY NOTRE DAME 25-25, ILLINI WEST 15-18: Josie Bryan and Reagan Reed each had eight kills, but the Chargers fell to the Raiders at Quincy.

Bryan added eight assists for the Chargers, while Reed had five. Kaelyn Ferrill and Abi White each had three digs, while White had three aces.

Josie Bryan with 8, Reagan Reed with 5.

Illini West (10-5) hosts Liberty at 6 p.m. Monday at Carthage, Illinois.

CROSS COUNTRY

DANVILLE-NEW LONDON SWEEPS TEAM TITLES AT MOUNT PLEASANT

Danville-New London won the boys with 20 points and the girls with 20 points to sweep the Class B team, titles at the Mount Pleasant Invitational.

For the Class B girls, Danville-New London was paced by Alaina Gourley, who had a winning time of 20 minutes, 32.70 seconds. Kamryn Sherwood was second in 21:21.15, Ava Ourth was fifth in 23:30.56, Ryann Logan was sixth in 23:56.97, Celia Horn was ninth in 24:25.18 and Macie Wagner was 13th in 25:59.22.

Ariana Vergara paced Columbus, taking third in 22:48.60, while Afton Wilkerson led Winfield-Mount Union, finishing 17th in 26:33.44 and Sidney Gruntmeir of Central Lee was 27th in 28:32.47.

Emma Welcher led Mount Pleasant to a second place finish in Class A, finishing third in 22:01.69. Isabelle Meador was seventh in 21:16.25. Mount Pleasant totaled 65 points, 40 behind winner Washington.

In Class B boys, Danville's AJ Bonnesen won in 16:20.38, Rylan Martin was second in 17:08.46, Carter Fesler was third in 17:18.11, Cauy Garrett was sixth in 18:00.28, Jackson Shacklett was eighth in 18:10.68, Talan Whaley was ninth in 18:13.96 and Isaac Shinn was 14th in 19:01.06.

Gabriel Hemsworth of Winfield-Mount Union was fourth in 17:37.36, while teammate Kohlby Newsom was fifth in 17:55.31.

Leo Thomas of Central Lee was 21st in 19:42.21 and Sheldon Kruse of Holy Trinity was 25th in 20:17.86.

Ben Carthey of Mount Pleasant was second in Class A boys in 17:08.18, while teammate Jude Dykstra was seventh in 18:05.18.

Matt Levins is a sports reporter for the USA Today Network in Burlington, Iowa, who has covered local sports for 32 years at The Hawk Eye. Reach him at mlevins@thehawkeye.com.

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Top four seeds all advance to Saturday's finals at SCC