(Oakland, IA) — Its the regional finals in volleyball and Riverside will try to go to the state tournament for the 2nd time in school history — the 4th ranked Bulldogs battle #11 Akron Westfield in Class 1A, Region 4 in Onawa, IA, coverage on KSOM.
Riverside is coming off an impressive 3-0 sweep over #11 East Mills in the semifinals — it was a match that required some blocking for the Bulldogs. The Wolverines out blocked the Bulldogs 16-13 but Riverside always seemed to have an answer after East Mills got huge blocks. Junior Madison Kelley leads the Dogs with 79 blocks on the year but Head Coach Brooke Flathers everybody on the team is very capable
Against East Mills, the Wolverines keep things close the first two sets but Riverside always had a response to whatever came their way. Flathers says that is a sign of good teamwork
From looking at the stat sheet, offense is not the specialty of Akron Westfield — they are led by Senior Mackenzie Hughes with 201 kills and average about 9.5 kills a set. Riverside has three players — Bentley Rone, Sophia Taylor and Elly Henderson — that all have over 200 kills and the Bulldogs have an average of 11.2 kills a set. One underrated player for Riverside is Sophomore Lilli Reed who is a sneaky good player according to Flathers
The last time Riverside went to state was 2022 — it was one and down against top seeded Springville. Flathers was the coach then and she hopes another trip is in store for her team in what has been an incredible fall in Oakland with a playoff football team and the boys cross country team going to state
Riverside (37-3) battles Akron Westfield (21-4) in the Regional Finals at West Monona High School in Onawa, game time is 7 pm, coverage on KSOM.
Complete Interview with Riverside Head Coach Brooke Flahters
