Hodges Fieldhouse will be the site for another No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown on Saturday when top-ranked Iowa Central welcomes in Cowley County.

The match will serve as the main attraction to a two-day tournament that begins Friday.

Earlier this year, the Tritons (32-0 overall) knocked off then-No. 1 Parkland at home. 

Iowa Central will face North Iowa Area at 2:45 p.m. and Carl Sandburg at 6:15 p.m. Friday. The match with Cowley is set for 11:15 a.m. Saturday with the Tritons concluding play at 1 p.m. vs. Central-Columbus.

Katilyn Steffes leads Iowa Central with 322 kills, while Brooke Dobson, Angel Baylark and Jori Hajek all have over 200. Baylark has 118 blocks and Haley Alharithy 116, with Alesha Johnson recording 1,110 assists. 

Cowley is led by Iva Halacheva, who has 368 kills, and Laci Beougher, who has 255. The Tigers have 114 total blocks as a team.  

Des Moines Area and Cowley begin the tournament at 1 p.m. followed by Kirkwood facing Carl Sandburg at 2:45 p.m. DMACC-Columbus and Kirkwood-Cowley are at 4:30 p.m. with NIACC facing Columbus at 6:15 p.m. 

On Saturday, NIACC vs. Cowley and Carl Sandburg vs. Columbus begins at 9:30 a.m. with NIACC-Carl Sandburg at 11:15 a.m. 

The Tritons have one more regular season home match on the schedule, hosting Northeast on Wednesday. They head to Beatrice, Nebraska next Friday to face Southeast before wrapping up with NIACC on Wednesday, October 27. 

The Region XI Tournament is scheduled to begin Saturday, October 30. 

-By Dana Becker