A conglomeration of volleyball notes during a busy week:WAMAC PLAY REACHES BRACKET PHASEThe Wamac Conference tournament will enter bracket play Thursday at Mount Vernon High School. Here are championship pairings, based on Tuesday's pool play:#1 Solon (26-4) vs. #8 Clear Creek Amana (20-11), 5 p.m.#4 ...

Solon High School volleyball coach Peter Gustin was asked to name a primary challenger for his team at the Wamac Conference volleyball tournament this week.It became a fairly lengthy conversation."Let's see. Maquoketa has an incredibly strong team," Gustin said. "If you play them, you've got to ...

Softball tournaments are upon us (Class 1A regionals began Monday night and 2A and 3A regionals open Tuesday). The last of the area conference races ended Monday when Washington (Iowa) got some unexpected help.Here is a list of area league champions:MVC MISSISSIPPI DIVISION -- Dubuque ...

CEDAR RAPIDS -- In a little more than a year, three area conferences will become two.The Iowa Department of Education rendered its decision Tuesday on an ongoing dilemma with athletics affiliation.In a nutshell, the IDOE decided to dissolve the Big East Conference and expand the Tri-Rivers ...

Here is how several area conferences look now, and how they'll look in the fall of 2013:BIG EAST CONFERENCE2011-12 (9 schools): Bellevue, Bellevue Marquette, Calamus-Wheatland, Camanche, Clinton Prince of Peace, Lisbon, Midland, Northeast, Preston.2013-14 (0 schools): Disbanded.CEDAR VALLEY CONFERENCE2011-12 (8 schools): Durant, Iowa City Regina, ...

DES MOINES -- The Iowa Department of Education will take the full 60 days in rendering a decision that will determine the conference affiliation of a good share of the area small schools.IDOE legal counsel Carol Greta said Friday that she was working on a ...

They nailed the dress rehearsal.Competing against a field comprised largely of Wamac Conference rivals, the Marion Indians ran away with their boys' invitational track meet Monday at Thomas Park Field.As a result, the Indians carry the tag of favorites into Thursday's conference meet at Vinton."I guess ...

Three more schools might be trying to flee the Tri-Rivers Conference.Representatives from East Buchanan, Maquoketa Valley and North Linn met with Upper Iowa Conference athletics directors Wednesday with hopes of possibly escaping a possible Tri-Rivers/Big East combination."The superintendents are the ones that would have to ...

(Here's how Jeff Linder from The Gazette-KCRG would complete the ongoing conference realignment issue for small schools throughout Eastern Iowa)Thank you all for attending this meeting. Please grab a doughnut and some coffee on your way to your seat. Make yourselves comfortable; this shouldn't take ...

Conference reshuffling remains a likelihood in Eastern Iowa. But it won't involve Anamosa.Iowa Department of Education general counsel Carol Greta overturned a committee's recommendation to take Anamosa out of the Wamac Conference and place it into a new conference."Our mediation team did as it was ...