Cherokee, Ia (Northwest Iowa Now) – The 2025-2026 Iowa High School Sports year officially wrapped up Friday night at the end of the State Baseball and Softball Championships, and we continue our series celebrating the best teams of the last sports year in the KICD 9-County area by turning to Volleyball.

The Cherokee Volleyball team has not had a sub-.500 season since 2013. The Braves have also strung together 4 straight 20+ win seasons, including a 28-8 mark in 2024. Cherokee saw that 2024 season end prematurely with a 3-1 loss in the 3A Region 6 Championship to Northwest Iowa Power Sioux Center. The Braves graduated 3 starters from that team, including Assists leader Elise Anderson, and Kills, Aces, and Digs leader Laney Wolfswinkel.

Despite the big statistical losses, Cherokee didn’t miss a beat in the 2025 season. Cherokee dominated at the Sheldon Early Bird to begin the season, going 4-0. The Braves took their first loss at the Unity Christian Tournament, 2 sets to 0 against Hinton, but picked up wins against Bishop Heelan of Sioux City, Southwest Christian of Chaska Minnesota, and Sergeant Bluff-Luton. It was another 3-1 mark at the Dutch Invite, with wins against Sergeant Bluff-Luton, Le Mars, and Sheldon, with a loss to Western Christian of Hull.

Cherokee would rattle off 12 straight wins, including winning their home tournament, going into a loaded Kooima Varilek Classic at Western Christian High School in Hull.

The Braves would split matches at that tournament, picking up wins against North of Sioux City and Boyden-Hull while falling to O’Gorman of Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Dakota Valley of South Dakota.

A highly anticipated regular season matchup was Cherokee’s home match against Western Christian of Hull, which was dominated by the Wolfpack, 3-0. Cherokee was only able to score double digits once in those 3 sets.

The Braves split their matches at Bishop Heelan of Sioux City’s Tournament, beating Ridge View and East of Sioux City, losing to the host Crusaders and Jefferson of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This wrapped up their regular season with a record of 26-7. Cherokee went unblemished in the Lakes Conference at 4-0, winning the league in it’s final season.

Unlike the season before, Cherokee was awarded the top seed in their Regional Bracket, which was 3A Region 3. The Braves tore through the Region, sweeping all three opponents; Eagle Grove, Algona, and Van Meter, 3 sets to 0.

Cherokee advanced to the Class 3A State Tournament where they were given the #4 seed and took on the #5 seed Humboldt for the Quarterfinal. It was a tough first couple of sets for the Braves, as they lost 25-16 and 25-15. Cherokee put up a nice fight in set 3, but ultimately fell by a score of 25-21. That Humboldt team would end up upsetting top seeded Western Christian of Hull in the Semifinal round before falling to Assumption of Davenport in the State Championship match.

Junior Deidra Doeden’s 105 Total Blocks led Class 3A while her classmate Addy Wolfswinkel paced the class with 72 Serve Aces. Doeden was also #5 in Class 3A for Kill Efficiency at .384.

From their State Tournament run, Cherokee brings back every player who started double-digit matches in 2026, as they gear up for one final run with a very talented class of 2027.

This has been the latest edition of KICD’s best teams of the 9-County area in the 2025-2026 Sports Year. Next up in the series will be Football.