Jessica Rinehart has coached a lot of talented volleyball teams at Ankeny Centennial.
This year’s squad may be one of her most experienced ever.
The Jaguars return nearly every player who had a major role on last year’s team that posted a 16-10 record and advanced to the state tournament for the seventh time in eight seasons.
“We return all of our starters, which is a great feeling,” said Rinehart, whose team is fourth in Class 5A in the preseason rankings. “We definitely have a lot of experience on the court.”
Centennial had a balanced attack in 2020 as six different players racked up at least 70 kills, and that entire sextet is back. They are seniors Olivia Anderson, Marissa Meyer, Monica Mirembe and Peyton Mitchell along with juniors Hannah Kurth and Delainey Winkel.
Meyer, a right-side hitter, led the team with 125 kills and also had 33 blocks. She helped the Jaguars to a 3-1 mark in the CIML Iowa Conference, earning all-league honorable mention.
Mirembe, a middle hitter, had 123 kills and led the team with 71 blocks and a .315 hitting percentage. She was named to the Iowa Conference first team and earned all-state honorable mention from the Iowa Girls’ Coaches Association.
Anderson, an outside hitter, had 119 kills and 132 digs. She joined Mirembe on the all-conference first team.
Winkel is another outside hitter for the Jaguars. She contributed 108 kills as a sophomore.
Mitchell, a middle hitter, had 92 kills and 48 blocks while leading the team with 24 aces. She was a second-team all-conference pick.
Kurth, another middle hitter, had 70 kills. She is the team’s tallest player at 6-foot-1.
Centennial also returns senior libero Ella Becker, senior setter Morgan DenBeste and junior setter Reagan Angus.
Becker had a team-high 344 digs last season. She was also the team’s best server, completing 96.9 percent of her attempts (219-of-226) with 14 aces.
Becker was named to the Iowa Conference second team. She also earned all-state honorable mention.
DenBeste compiled 306 assists and 94 digs a year ago. She received all-conference honorable mention.
Angus will again share the setting duties with DenBeste. She had 213 assists, 71 digs and 20 aces as a sophomore.
“The practices are going great!” Rinehart said. “We had a ‘real’ summer this summer, too, so it feels like we have gotten a lot of volleyball in to this point. The team is working extremely hard, and it’s obvious they want to make this journey count.
“The team is motivated to get back to state and to go further down the tournament trail,” added Rinehart, whose squad lost to eventual Class 5A champion Ankeny in the quarterfinals of last year’s tournament.
Centennial will open the season on Tuesday by competing in the Dallas Center-Grimes Invitational. The Jaguars will then host the Centennial Invitational on Saturday.
“The keys for this team to reach its potential will be to continue to improve throughout the season,” Rinehart said. “We’ll have to play clean and aggressive, and all of our players will need to embrace and produce in their role. We’ve got an outstanding group of veteran players here, and I’m really looking forward to going on this season’s journey to see what we can do.”
