MONTICELLO – They scratched and clawed, but they just couldn’t grab the final win to advance.Cedar Rapids Kennedy fought the entire match, but third-ranked Dubuque Hempstead earned a 22-25, 25-21, 25-16, 27-25 win in the Class 5A Region 5 final Tuesday night at Monticello High ...

CEDAR RAPIDS -- There are some hungry wolves in town, nipping at the queen's heels.For now, the queen's boots are strong enough to keep them at bay.Lexi Rogers made the big plays at the big moments, and Cedar Rapids Kennedy turned back Cedar Rapids Washington ...

CEDAR RAPIDS -- A five-set match had become a race to four points.Cedar Rapids Kennedy had the winning kick at the end.Lexi Rogers made two big plays in the final, furious stretch as Kennedy outlasted Class 4A seventh-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier, 26-24, 27-25, 17-25, 23-25, ...

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Momentum can be a fickle, fleeting thing.It darts, it dances. It comes, it goes.Tuesday night, Iowa City High grabbed it, lost it, regained it, then kept it."The first two games were total opposites of each other," City High Coach Craig Pitcher said ...

Area players to watch for the 2012 volleyball season:SAM BARZ, sr., Union -- Averaged 3.5 kills per game with a .304 kill efficiency.CHELSEA BERRY, sr., Starmont -- Averaged 3.5 kills and 2.4 digs per game with a .325 kill efficiency.JORDAN CALEF, sr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy ...

 CEDAR RAPIDS -- Iowa City West's unlikely, bittersweet journey has reached its final chapter.The top-ranked Women of Troy overcame a furious rally from No. 7 Cedar Rapids Kennedy, scoring the final five points in the fifth game to prevail, 25-18, 25-18, 23-25, 15-25, 15-7, in ...

 CEDAR RAPIDS – Blink, and you missed it.Seventh-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy sprinted into familiar territory in a new venue, needing just 63 minutes to close out No. 4 Dubuque Hempstead, 25-9, 25-21, 25-15, in a Class 4A quarterfinal at the state volleyball tournament Wednesday afternoon ...

CLARENCE -- Allie Hutcheson's biggest issue was the blood.Hutcheson reopened a wound near her rib cage early in Wednesday's Class 4A volleyball regional final. As the Kennedy Cougars talked during timeouts, a trainer dabbed at Hutcheson's bright yellow uniform, wiping the blood stain clean.As for the match, ...

 CEDAR RAPIDS -- Jordan Calef knows the way to Clarence."That's good," joked her coach, Michelle Goodall. "She can drive Wednesday."Seventh-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy exhibited superior balance and swept Cedar Rapids Xavier in a Class 4A regional volleyball semifinal Thursday night at Kennedy High School.Scores were ...