Jaeden Pratt and her Ankeny Centennial volleyball teammates would like nothing more than another opportunity to play CIML Conference rival Dowling Catholic.
If it happens, it would be in the Class 5A state tournament–perhaps in the championship match.
The second-ranked Jaguars advanced to the semifinals of the Westside Invitational on Saturday at Cedar Rapids Jefferson before dropping a 25-20, 25-11 decision to No. 1 Dowling. The Maroons (27-7) also defeated Centennial in five sets in a conference match on Sept. 5.
“Dowling has a really strong team this year,” said Pratt, whose team is now 27-6. “They are very offensive, and our passing game was off that game so it was harder for us to get the looks we needed. But it would definitely be a great matchup if we were to see them again.”
Dowling outhit the Jaguars by a .242 to .046 margin. Mackenzie Dean had 12 kills and three aces to lead the Maroons, who went on to suffer a 25-14, 25-19 loss in the final to unbeaten Dike-New Hartford–the No. 1 team in Class 2A.
“Overall, I thought we had a solid weekend,” said Centennial coach Jessica Rinehart. “With all of our tournaments over, it will be nice to get back in the gym and focus on one match at a time. We need to lock in now and start focusing on all the little things in order to keep improving and to be ready for postseason play.”
Pratt had five kills and seven digs in the loss. Delaney Miller also pounded five kills, while Kambria Leazer dished out 12 assists.
Ava Kronenberg led the defense with three blocks. Mya Lei-Butters racked up 10 digs.
Centennial completed 31-of-32 serves, but had no aces in the match.
The Jaguars defeated all three of their opponents during pool play, including a 21-17, 12-21, 15-8 win over Grundy Center. The Spartans (33-6) are ranked third in Class 2A.
Centennial rolled to a 21-8, 21-10 victory over Cedar Rapids Washington (7-20). The Jaguars also posted a 21-13, 21-15 triumph over West Delaware (22-12), the No. 10 team in Class 3A.
“I thought we had a really good day with some tough competition,” Pratt said. “We beat some good top teams that will be seen in the state tournament.”
In the quarterfinals, Centennial posted a 25-19, 22-25, 21-19 win over Marion–the No. 7 team in Class 4A–despite being outhit, .139 to .128. The Jaguars had lost to Marion (22-11) in last year’s semifinals.
Pratt had 19 kills, 12 digs and two aces in the win. Miller finished with 13 kills and 16 digs.
Leazer racked up 34 assists, four blocks and two aces. Anna Sash also had four blocks.
Lei-Butters had 18 digs and also completed all 11 of her serves.
“We took care of our pool play matches, pulled out a fun match against Marion and just ran out of steam against Dowling in the semis,” Rinehart said.
Centennial will play its final conference match on Tuesday at No. 3 Waukee Northwest (22-8). The Jaguars defeated Northwest in three sets in the quarterfinals of the Urbandale Invitational on Sept. 30.
The two teams are tied for second place in the league at 6-1. Dowling (7-0) only needs to beat Urbandale (0-7) to wrap up the outright conference title.
