SPORTS

Co-Director of Pella High School Bands Dameon Place previews the Marching Dutch season. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS | Subscribe to Let's Talk Pella.

It took five sets to finish the first home match for Pella in 2023, but it was advantage Norwalk as the #6 in 4A volleyball team took a 3-2 Little Hawkeye Conference showdown Tuesday (22-25, 25-20, 25-12, 23-25, 15-9). The Dutch celebrated their Class of ’23 with senior night, as...

Competing in yet another Little Hawkeye Conference five-set volleyball match Tuesday night, Pella Christian fell just short, this time dropping a 3-2 decision to Oskaloosa. The five-set loss was the Eagles third such defeat in league play through just four matches. Pella Christian opened the road match against the Indians with a 25-18 victory in set one. Oskaloosa evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-21 second set win, only for the Eagles to answer with a 25-21 victory of their own in the third set. The Indians bounced back in set four with a 25-20 win to force a deciding fifth set, where they held off Pella Christian 15-9 to claim the conference win. Ema Zula posted 12 kills in the loss, while Chloe Huisman had 37 assists and Faith Kacmarynski recorded 18 digs. Tuesday’s loss drops the Eagles to 9-11 overall on the season and 0-4 in the league.

Central College is receiving a Tara VanDerveer Fund for the Advancement of Women in Coaching grant from the Women’s Sports Foundation. Grants were awarded to institutions to support collegiate women coaches on the rise, assisting with living expenses, professional development and mentorship. Central is among 10 universities and colleges to receive the grants, which are designated for women coaching fellows in a wide variety of women’s sports.

The Pleasantville football team will host the Sigourney-Keota Cobras tonight in their homecoming game.The Trojans are now 2-2 on the season and 0-1 in district play, coming off a tough 42-14 loss to Pella Christian last week. Pleasantville has experimented with two different quarterbacks in their games this year between the starter, senior Ryder Thill, and freshman Braylon Bingham. Bingham saw more of the field last week, but the Trojan coaching staff is not concerned at the moment with a QB1 or QB2 discussion. They ultimately want the best personnel on the field in each correct situation. Senior running back Caleb Cook has continued putting together an impressive season with over 800 all purpose yards, 11 touchdowns, and 15.5 tackles on the defensive side of the football.

With a 15th-place finish, Coral Rork medaled at Central’s home meet on Sept. 14. (Photos by Bev Hamann)

Andrew Schneider spotlights Norwalk VB Ava Johnson; Pella VB Aaliyah Riddick, Kyli Heimstra. Tyler Crabb features spotlight athletes PCM XC Makayla True and Joe Shaver. Today’s Lely Radio Sports Page airs during the 8 a.m., 1 p.m., and 4 p.m. news magazines on KNIA/KRLS, and will be available daily online at KNIAKRLS.com and on our podcasts.

SULLY — The Lynnville-Sully volleyball team played in its third consecutive five-set conference match on Monday. But the latest matchup against Montezuma was different than the previous two. The Hawks rallied from an early hole and 2-1 deficit to beat Colfax-Mingo last week and then lost a 2-0 lead...

MONROE — The situation for the PCM girls’ cross country team leading into its home meet on Thursday didn’t exactly favor the Mustangs. Returning state qualifier Abi Teeter had an ear infection and Bailey Wheeler was under the weather. The Mustangs also were coming off Homecoming week...

MONROE — The PCM volleyball team couldn’t pull out its five-set match with West Marshall on Tuesday night. But according to Mustang head coach Sarah De Vries, some of the best volleyball in quite some time was played by her squad. PCM recovered from an early hole with...

It’s near the halfway point of the season, and it’s taken that long for the Pella volleyball team to compete in their home gymnasium. The Dutch welcome #6 in 4A Norwalk for the third conference tilt of the annual fall rotation. Pella stands at 12-7 overall and 1-1 in the league, and are seeking to knock off a ranked team on a Tuesday after finding a few of those victories during weekend tournaments. Pella will have to contend with a Warriors team that has a 13-10 record, with the vast majority of those losses coming to ranked 4A and 5A teams. In the Bound/Quikstats era, Pella has won 17 of 23 matchups, but Norwalk swept the green and white last fall in the regular season, only for the Dutch to avenge that setback in the conference tournament. The evening begins with Pella High senior night festivities at 6:45, with first serve scheduled at 7:15 p.m.

KNOXVILLE, Iowa — As Kyle Bronson stood in street clothes eyeballing his wrecked race car, he was asked again and again — by fans, fellow racers and media members — what had caused him to spectacularly flip out of second place late in Saturday’s 75-lap Knoxville Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals.

In what will inevitably be the hilliest course of the season for the Blue Demon cross country squad, the team finished 8th in the stacked field of competition. “We knew coming in things would be tough with the likes of 4A Ottumwa, four 3A schools, and a handful of 2A ranked teams (Pella Christian and #4 ranked Chariton), and it proved to be just that.”

Central College welcomed six outstanding Pella area students from fourth to eighth grades for Kid Captain Day at the Central football game Saturday, Sept. 16. Kid Captains were nominated by their peers using a rubric of characteristics such as having a positive attitude, making positive contributions, considering the needs and wants of others, showing respect and accepting and tolerating the views and beliefs of others – all of which makes them a great teammate.

Posting its fifth shutout of the season and third in a row, the Central College women’s soccer team tied Grinnell College 0-0 Wednesday. The Dutch (4-1-3) and Pioneers (2-2-2) were close in most statistical categories as well, with Central holding a slight shot differential of 14-9. Central put six shots on frame, including four in the second half. Paige Cahill had five of the shot attempts on the night, while Amber Santana and Grace Coates each had three. Goalkeeper Zoey Sizemore made five saves to keep the Pioneers off the board.

The PCM volleyball team defeated the Cardinal Comets 3-1 Thursday night. The Mustangs dropped a close first set 25-23 but then bounced back in the second set to defeat Cardinal 25-21. The third and fourth set were all PCM, dominating the Comets 25-9 and 25-13 to close out the match. Rebecca De Vries led the Mustangs with 12 kills on the night and Addison Steenhoek had 33 digs and six service aces. PCM volleyball coach Sarah De Vries commented that they started slow, but once they warmed up, they were able to pull away.

On a bonus edition of Let’s Talk Pella, former Central College President Don Lubbers joined Trevor Castle to discuss his memories of leading the college. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS | Subscribe to Let's Talk Pella.

Central’s boys soccer team began their season 5-2-2, a year after winning the IHSA 4A State Championship last year. The team has struggled to replace the goal-scoring production of their top five goal scorers from last season, according to Assistant Coach Mike Ortiz. Four of those players graduated, while their top goal-scorer, then-Freshman Chase Adams, now plays for the youth squad of the MLS’s (Major League Soccer’s) Columbus Crew.

OSKALOOSA — A tie on the road in its league opener was not enough to keep the Statesmen men’s soccer team from dipping one spot as the NAIA released its third top-25 poll Wednesday. WPU (5-1-2, 0-0-1 Heart) has dropped to #15 with 266 points, but remains second...

The East Central College Men’s Soccer team (5-4-1) defeated the Metropolitan Community College Kansas City Wolves, with a 5-0 home victory. The match was competitive for the first 38 minutes, then the Falcons took control. Calogera Melia scored the first goal in the 39th minute. Two minutes later, Ethan Lush scored, making the halftime score 2-0.