Several KCII area teams will begin play in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference tournament at pool play sites around league tonight.
The Columbus Wildcats will be hosting a group of five squads. Attending the Columbus tournament site are Iowa Mennonite, Pekin, Highland, Danville and the host Wildcats.
The Pekin Panthers are the number one seed in the pool. The Panthers have accumulated an overall record of 11-3 this year, are 5-1 in SEISC play, and have won seven of their last eight entering play tonight. Against other teams at the Columbus site the Panthers are 2-0 on the year with single wins each over Highland and IMS. Beth Atwood leads the Pekin attack with 141 kills, best in the SEISC North, Courtney Comstock has dished out 224 assists, second best in the league, and Emily Bemis leads the Pekin defense with 112 digs, eighth best in conference play.
The Highland Huskies are the number two seed in the Columbus pool. The Huskies enter tonight with an 11-5 overall record, 3-1 mark in league play and sport a record of 3-2 against teams they will see in tonight’s tournament opening round. The Huskies have two wins over IMS on the year and a win over Columbus while they have dropped one game each to IMS and Pekin. The Huskies are led statistically by Sydney Black with 70 kills, good for ninth overall in the conference, Jenna Dresselhaus has 122 assists, ninth in the SEISC, and Kelsey Hora leads the Highland defense with 129 digs, fourth best in the conference.
IMS enters play as the three seed in the group of five. They are looking to right the ship after a tough stretch of matches in which they have dropped eight straight. Iowa Mennonite enters play with a 5-10 record overall and a 1-3 standing in SEISC matches. As members of the same league all of these teams are familiar with one another but maybe none moreso than IMS who has already played five matches against teams they will see in tonight’s pool play round. In those matches IMS has a record of 2-3 with wins over Columbus and Highland and losses to Highland twice and Pekin.
For the year IMS is led by Natalie Graber with 65 kills and 87 digs and Alijah Beatty with 141 assists, fifth best in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference.
The Danville Bears of the SEISC South are the fourth seed in the group. Danville enters play with an overall record of 4-10, they are 1-3 in the south division of the Southeast Iowa Super Conference. The Bears have not had a match against any of the teams they will see tonight in Columbus. Danville is led on the year by Emma Jarrett with 53 kills, Rylee Molter had 52 assists and Rylea Stringer leads the Bears defense with 86 digs.
The Columbus Wildcats are the five seed in their region. The Wildcats enter tonight’s tournament with an overall record of 4-16 for the year, they stand at 1-4 in conference play and have a record of 0-2 against teams they will see tonight in their pool, with single losses to IMS and Highland on the season. For the year statistically the Wildcats are led by Laura Mincks with 80 kills, putting her fifth in the SEISC North, and 130 digs, third best in the conference, while Kortney Orr has 145 assists, fourth best in the league.
Action begins tonight at Columbus High School at 5PM.