It’s a good time for the Ankeny volleyball team to regroup.
The third-ranked Hawkettes went 3-2 on Saturday in the Caroline Found Invitational at Iowa City West. They will have a week off before returning to the court on Saturday at the Waukee Invitational.
“I think the timing is going to benefit us so we can heal up and get back to 100 percent,” said Ankeny coach Liz Baethke, whose team is now 12-6 on the season. “That’s our goal right now.”
After going 2-1 during pool play, Ankeny posted a 25-15, 24-26, 15-13 victory over No. 10 Iowa City Liberty in the quarterfinals. The Hawkettes defeated Liberty (6-10) for the second time this month.
Kamryn Scheib led Ankeny with eight kills, while Maya Ridgeway chipped in six. Cloey Wiederin dished out 14 assists, and Lauren Dockendorff added 12.
Reagan Hanfelt had four blocks and three aces. Baileigh Carlsen racked up 18 digs, while Megan Rembert added 13 digs and two aces.
In the semifinals, Ankeny dropped a 25-18, 25-18 decision to unbeaten Clear Creek-Amana, the No. 1 team in Class 4A. The Clippers (19-0) went on to beat No. 1 Dowling Catholic–last year’s champion–in the final, 20-25, 25-21, 16-14.
“Clear Creek is the real deal,” Baethke said. “I think they were the runner-up in 4A last year, and they look better than last year to me. I’m not sure I see anyone coming close to them right now in that class.”
Ridgeway had eight kills in the loss. Wiederin and Dockendorff contributed nine and eight assists, respectively.
Ava Wille had a pair of blocks. Carlsen added nine digs.
Ankeny opened the tournament with a 26-24, 10-21, 15-12 loss to Mid-Prairie (Wellman). Mid-Prairie (11-3) is unranked.
“Dropping the first match to Mid-Prairie was pretty frustrating,” Baethke said. “It was just a rough go all day. We had a lot of kids who went home sick during the week and some were playing sick, which wasn’t ideal. We just couldn’t get consistent play or get into a rhythm with the hiccups we have going on right now.”
Hanfelt had eight kills in the loss to Mid-Prairie, while Scheib finished with seven kills and 14 digs. Wiederin had 16 assists, and Dockendorff added 10 more.
Wille racked up four blocks, and Ady Brecht chipped in three. Carlsen had 11 digs.
In their other pool play matches, the Hawkettes rolled to wins over Iowa City West (21-13, 21-15) and Iowa City Regina (21-14, 21-18). Regina (11-6) is the No. 10 team in Class 2A.
Ridgeway and Scheib each had eight kills in the triumph over Regina, while Olivia Eike chipped in six kills and two blocks. Dockendorff dished out 13 assists, and Wiederin added 11.
Carlsen recorded 18 digs. Hanfelt added a pair of blocks.
Scheib pounded 12 kills in the victory over West (3-11), and Wille added four. Dockendorff had 15 assists, and Hanfelt contributed two blocks.
Carlsen had 14 digs. She also recorded three of the team’s nine aces.
Ankeny will now have several days to practice before competing again.
“This will be a good opportunity for us to straighten some things out,” Baethke said.
