The volleyball postseason begins at home on Tuesday for both the Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial squads.
Fourth-ranked Ankeny (34-5) will take a 14-match winning streak into a Class 5A regional semifinal against No. 13 Urbandale (20-16) at 7 p.m. The Hawkettes have not lost since they dropped a 25-22, 26-24 decision to Sergeant Bluff-Luton, the No. 1 team in Class 4A, in the semifinals of the Waukee Invitational on Sept. 21.
Ankeny rebounded from that loss with a 25-19, 25-19, 25-15 victory at Urbandale three nights later. Reilly Johnson had nine kills in the win.
The J-Hawks, however, have played well down the stretch. They took a set off No. 6 Dowling Catholic–the CIML Central Conference champion–on Oct. 8, then later closed out the regular season by winning four of five matches at the Johnston Invitational on Oct. 19, including a win over No. 8 Waukee.
Urbandale rolled to a 25-3, 25-9, 25-16 victory over Des Moines North in a regional quarterfinal on Wednesday. Freshman Lily Dykstra had nine kills for the J-Hawks.
With a win, Ankeny would host either No. 12 Cedar Rapids Kennedy (19-18) or Ames (10-26) in Monday’s regional final.
No. 9 Centennial (17-14), meanwhile, will host Fort Dodge (5-34) in a regional semifinal at 7 p.m. This is a matchup of two teams heading in opposite directions–the defending state champion Jaguars have won seven of their last nine matches, while the Dodgers are just 2-15 since Sept. 24.
Centennial posted a 25-19, 25-21, 25-14 victory at Fort Dodge on Sept. 3. Olivia Anderson had eight kills for the Jaguars, who played that match without preseason all-American Devyn Robinson.
The winner will play No. 5 Council Bluffs Lincoln (36-3) or No. 15 Sioux City East (25-14) in Monday’s regional final. The highest remaining ranked team will host that match.
