The Ankeny Christian Academy volleyball players wanted to close out the Class 1A state tournament in style.
The top-ranked Eagles accomplished their goal.
ACA swept past No. 3 Holy Trinity Catholic in the championship match on Thursday at Xtream Arena in Coralville, posting a 25-21, 25-18, 25-17 victory to capture its second consecutive crown.
“We so badly wanted a sweep tonight,” said junior setter Katie Quick, who was named the captain of the all-tournament team for the second straight year. “That was kind of our game plan. If anything, we so badly wanted to win in three (sets). Just to get that one sweep in the tournament.”
The Eagles had dropped a set in each of their first two matches at the state tournament. Holy Trinity Catholic, meanwhile, had swept No. 6 Don Bosco and No. 2 Boyden-Hull to reach the final.
But the Crusaders (33-11) had no answers for ACA’s potent offensive attack. The Eagles outhit Holy Trinity by a .215 to .130 margin.
“I think they definitely had some confidence looking at our scores from the past few days and just thinking they could beat us,” said ACA junior Macey Nehring. “But we knew we weren’t playing to our full potential and we knew we could come out and just sweep them, and that’s what we did.”
The Eagles closed out the season with a 29-match winning streak. They finished with a 39-3 record for the second consecutive year.
ACA junior Carley Craighead had 13 kills and was a repeat selection to the all-tournament team. She pounded seven of her kills in the first set alone.
“We wanted to come in here and sweep them,” said Craighead. “We knew what we needed to do and we studied them, and we came in and executed that.”
Nehring racked up a team-high 16 kills and had two of the Eagles’ 11 aces. She was also named to the all-tournament team.
“I mean, we went back-to-back, baby!” Nehring said. “It feels great!”
ACA’s only losses this season came to Class 2A semifinalists Denver and Grundy Center. The Eagles went more than a month without losing a set before dropping the opening set to Newell-Fonda in the Class 1A quarterfinals on Tuesday.
ACA then won nine of the next 10 sets to defend its title.
“It was a little less stressful (this year),” said ACA coach Michele Quick. “The girls came out ready to roll, and they were ready to fight. They just kept their composure the whole time. They came up with some insane plays that really turned their energy even higher–they were pumped and ready to go. We didn’t know for sure that we could do it in three (sets), but we were so happy that we did it in three.”
ACA led by only 16-15 in Set 1 before the Eagles went on a 7-2 run to build a 23-17 advantage. After the Crusaders reeled off four straight points, Craighead smashed a kill and then followed with a block to close out the set.
“It feels amazing,” Craighead said. “This is what we’ve been waiting for all season.”
Holy Trinity took an early 3-1 lead in each of the next two sets, but was unable to pull away. In Set 2, the Eagles broke away from a 15-15 tie with a 10-3 run and closed it out on a kill by Quick.
“We had more pressure this year with the target on our back and people expecting us to win, so it feels really good to go out there and prove everyone right and get the win,” Quick said.
In Set 3, ACA forced a sideout to take a 15-11 lead. Anna Weathers then served the next seven points and had four aces during that stretch as the Eagles closed in on another championship.
The Crusaders answered with a 6-1 run to close the gap to 23-17 before ACA scored the next two points to set off a wild celebration on the court.
“Oh my goodness, it feels really good,” said coach Quick. “It feels a little bit surreal and a little unbelievable–well, not unbelievable. But it feels good!”
Quick finished with seven kills, 35 assists and 11 digs. Morgan Fincham contributed three aces, and libero Riese Gjerde racked up 22 digs.
Weathers chipped in nine kills and five aces.
“We knew if we could go hard that they typically get their defense out on the perimeter, and they were a little bit deeper on their heels,” coach Quick said. “We wanted to keep them guessing as to who was hitting as well–that would make a huge difference. We could kind of blast from any direction on the court and we could move them if we needed to, which we did a couple of times. It worked for us.”
Mary Kate Bendlage led Holy Trinity with 11 kills and was named to the all-tournament team along with teammate Teagan Snaadt, who finished with 18 digs. Kinzie Hinders of Newell-Fonda and Olivia Peters of BCLUW were the other all-tournament picks.
After the match, the Eagles posed for photos and celebrated with their fans. Quick wasn’t sure where the postgame celebration was headed.
“Last year, we went to Steak ‘n Shake,” she said. “So we’ll see what we do this year.”
ACA will have to replace Gjerde and middle hitter Chloe Roe, but the rest of the starting lineup will return intact next season. The Eagles will be a heavy favorite to earn a threepeat.
“Hey, if we have confidence, we can do anything,” Craighead said. “I trust these girls.”
