Coach Liz Baethke knew that the season opener for her Ankeny volleyball team was going to be a tall task.
Second-ranked Dowling Catholic, which features one of the state’s top hitters in Mackenzie Dean and several other tall players, proved to be as formidable as she feared.
The Maroons dropped the opening set on their home court before rallying to beat No. 8 Ankeny, 23-25, 25-14, 25-14, 25-13, in the CIML Conference opener for both teams on Tuesday.
“That first match is tough because there really isn’t much film out there for (Dowling),” said Baethke. “You can look back at last year and Mackenzie Dean, but these kids play each other all the time and they know the tendencies. We just had to play, and we didn’t step up and execute when we needed to.”
Dowling dominated the last three sets. The Maroons jumped out to a 15-10 lead in Set 2, a 6-0 advantage in Set 3 and a 10-5 margin in Set 4.
The Hawkettes, who hit .057 as a team, were unable to battle back.
“We don’t have a lot of returners, but this program traditionally reloads,” said Baethke, who left Urbandale after 23 years to take the Ankeny position this summer. “We just didn’t look confident. I know it’s there. I know they’re capable of playing at a high level. We’ve just got to be a little more disciplined and work on the mental piece.”
Ankeny got off to an encouraging start–even though Baethke had to make some last-minute adjustments. Reagan Hanfelt had a kill followed by an ace to erase the Maroons’ 22-21 lead in the opening set.
Shortly thereafter, the Hawkettes won the set when a Dowling serve went into the net.
“For the first set I was pleased because we had to shift right before the game to a different plan than what we had been practicing,” said Baethke, who was expecting to have one of her injured players back in the lineup. “It was a good start right out of the gate, but then our energy–we fell flat and couldn’t recover.”
After Dowling served an ace to close out Set 2, the Maroons built a 13-5 lead in Set 3. Ankeny closed the gap to 17-12 before Dowling scored eight on the next 10 points to take a 2-1 lead.
It was during that stretch that the Hawkettes appeared to have some issues with slipping on the court.
“It was concerning because the heat brings in the humidity,” Baethke said. “I was worried that it could create some condensation on the floor, and it was a little problematic. It wasn’t the reason (we lost), but it didn’t help.”
The Maroons eventually closed out the match with an ace.
“We know we have a lot to work on,” Baethke said. “This was definitely an opportunity to gauge where we’re at. We have a long way to go.”
Kamryn Scheib led Ankeny with 10 kills. Hanfelt chipped in eight, Maya Ridgeway had six, Ava Wille contributed five, and Olivia Eike added four.
Cloey Wiederin dished out 16 assists. Lauren Dockendorff had 11.
Baileigh Carlsen racked up 20 digs in the loss, while Dockendorff and Raegan Scheib each added 10. Wille had four blocks, and Ady Brecht added three.
Kamryn Scheib completed all 15 of her serves, and Carlsen was a perfect 14-of-14 from behind the line. Carlsen, Hanfelt and Raegan Scheib each had a pair of aces.
The Hawkettes will compete in the Ankeny Centennial Invitational on Saturday.
