Coralville's Xtream Arena will host Iowa high school volleyball state tournament starting in 2022
Sports fans from across Iowa will be watching the best high school volleyball players in a new facility for the first time in more than three decades next year.
The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union announced Friday the Xtream Arena in Coralville will begin hosting the state tournament in 2022.
"We are excited to bring the State Volleyball Tournament to Xtream Arena and Coralville,” IGHSAU executive director Jean Berger said in a news release. “Xtream Arena is the premier volleyball venue in Iowa. We look forward to our partnership with the staffs at the Arena and Think Iowa City.”
Cedar Rapids had hosted the state tournament at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse since 1991.
“We are incredibly honored by the opportunity to host the IGHSAU Girls State Volleyball Championships,” said Josh Schamberger, President of Think Iowa City + Iowa City Area Sports Commission. “We know that we have very big shoes to fill with the standard that has been set for the past 31 years by Cedar Rapids."
The University of Iowa volleyball team has played most of its home games in the new arena since it opened 2020 and has a locker room in the facility.
More: Iowa high school volleyball: Introducing the Des Moines Register's 2021 All-Iowa teams
Xtream Arena, which has seating for 5,100, had been in the works for more than three decades, breaking ground in 2018. It is home to the ECHL hockey franchise Iowa Heartlanders and has hosted concerts and wrestling tournaments.
"We are excited by that challenge and deeply appreciative of the confidence Director Berger and her board have placed in us," Schamberger said.
Joseph Cress is a photojournalist for the Iowa City Press-Citizen, Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Follow him on Twitter at @josephwcress.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Xtream Arena is new host for Iowa volleyball state tournament
