TRAER — In a battle between top-10 teams in Class 1A volleyball, No. 2 North Tama defeated No. 7 BCLUW by a 3-2 margin in Thursday’s Iowa Star Conference South Division showdown.

The host Redhawks held off the Comets 25-27, 25-23, 25-15, 20-25, 15-10, scoring the last four points of the night to put away the win.

Freshman Alaney Sienknecht led the Redhawks (11-6, 3-0) with 19 kills. Cayleigh Heller had 14 kills, Kruiz Ewoldt had 12 and Lily Sell 10. Setters Isabelle Gropper and Heller finished with 22 and 12 assists, respectively.

Senior libero Addison Hochstetler led the North Tama defense with 28 digs as well as eight assists, and Sienknecht tallied 17 digs. Brooke Bradley led up front with six blocks, Sienknecht had five and Heller four.

Hochstetler served 23-for-25 with three of the team’s 13 aces.

BCLUW (9-1, 1-1) got 16 kills from Olivia Peters and 12 more by Grace Farnsworth. Sophomore setter Cambria Wayman tallied 29 assists and Sally Ramirez had 10 more.

Junior libero Brinna Benson led the Comet defense with 23 digs, Peters had 18 and Cambria 17. Peters and Kylie Pekarek had two blocks each.

BCLUW served at 95.8 percent with six aces, led by Peters going 21-for-21 with two aces.

MCC volleyball collects first win in dramatic fashion

CRESTON — The Marshalltown Community College volleyball team earned its first win of the season on Thursday night by defeating host Southwestern 3-2 in an Iowa Community College Athletic Conference clash.

The visiting Tigers (1-3, 1-3) rallied to defeat the host Spartans, 25-17, 23-25, 20-25, 25-22, 15-12.

The MCC attack was led by Morghan Harvey, who had 17 kills. Kaylee LaPlant added 14 kills, Violet Hougland had seven kills, and Imigyn Stratton added five kills. Addy Stull finished with 30 assists and four kills, while Olivia Maddux added 10 assists and two kills.

Harvey paced the defense with 24 digs and Callie Swanson tallied 21 digs and a team-high two service aces. Hougland had a team-best three blocks, while Harvey and Stull had two apiece.

Addison Martin led Southwestern (2-12, 0-4) with 12 kills.

Iowa men’s basketball releases non-conference schedule

IOWA CITY — The University of Iowa men’s basketball team will play eight home games inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena as part of its non-conference schedule for the 2025-26 season, it was announced Friday by head coach Ben McCollum.

The Hawkeyes will open the season with their first five games at home, hosting Robert Morris (Nov. 4), Western Illinois (Nov. 7), Xavier (Nov. 14), Southeast Missouri State (Nov. 18) and Chicago State (Nov. 20).

Iowa travels to Palm Springs, Calif., for the Acrisure Classic where the team will face Ole Miss on Nov. 25. The Hawkeyes will then play either Grand Canyon or Utah in a second game on Nov. 26.

The Hawkeyes travel to Ames for an Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series matchup at Iowa State on Dec. 11 before hosting Western Michigan on Dec. 14. After playing Bucknell at the Casey’s Center in Des Moines on Dec. 20, Iowa closes on non-conference play against UMass-Lowell on Dec. 29 in Iowa City.

Iowa will play four games against 2025 NCAA Tournament teams during non-league play with a fifth game possible depending on the results of the Acrisure Classic.