After reaching the Class 5A semifinals in each of the previous two seasons, the Ankeny Centennial volleyball team is setting its sights even higher in 2024.
But Centennial coach Jessica Rinehart said it’s too early to even think about this year’s state tournament.
“We’ve broken our season into six different milestones–with a focus for each one,” said Rinehart, whose team is third in the Class 5A preseason rankings. “Of course, ultimately the end goal is making it to state and contending for a title, but that’s not our focus right now. Our focus is to come out on Monday, fearless and ready to play!”
The Jaguars will open their season on Monday with a non-conference match at Indianola. The No. 6 Indians have moved up to Class 5A after placing second in Class 4A a year ago, when they finished with a 38-5 record.
“The practices have been going great,” said Rinehart, whose team lost to Indianola in last year’s season opener. “The girls are working hard, and we’ve been focusing on the importance of the little things throughout the preseason.”
Centennial has qualified for state 10 times in the 11-year history of the program. The Jaguars posted a 31-7 record last season and placed second in the CIML Conference with a 7-1 mark.
Centennial will again be led by senior outside hitters Delaney Miller and Jaeden Pratt, who are two of the state’s top players. Miller is a Wayne State (Neb.) recruit, while Pratt will play basketball at Illinois State.
As a junior, Miller ranked third in Class 5A and 15th in the entire state with 437 kills while recording a .253 hitting percentage. She also racked up 239 digs and ranked eighth in Class 5A with 49 aces.
Pratt, meanwhile, placed second among the Jaguars with 327 kills and 257 digs. She also had 41 blocks and tied for 17th in Class 5A with 41 aces.
Miller recorded 16 kills in Centennial’s five-set victory over crosstown rival Ankeny in the Class 5A quarterfinals. Pratt had 15 kills and four blocks in the Jaguars’ five-set loss to eventual champion Waukee Northwest in the semifinals.
Miller and Pratt were both named to the Class 5A all-state first team by the Iowa Girls’ Coaches Association and were both repeat selections to the Class 5A West all-district team. Pratt was also a repeat pick to the all-conference first team and to the Class 5A all-tournament team, and she was joined on both squads by Miller.
Junior libero Mya Lei-Butters is the team’s other returning starter. She ranked ninth in Class 5A with 388 digs and also had 102 assists.
Lei-Butters was a second-team all-conference pick.
“The fact that we have J, D-Mill and Mya who are all six-rotation players returning, we keep a lot of our experience on the court,” Rinehart said. “We do have some players new to varsity as well as some that were on varsity last year that didn’t receive a lot of playing time, but experienced what a season looked like as well as practiced at a faster pace daily.”
Senior right-side hitter Finley Greiner is the Jaguars’ only other returning varsity regular. She played in 25 matches a year ago, recording 31 kills and 24 digs.
Juniors Maegen Cheeseman and Tatem Schmidt will likely share the setting duties. They combined for 39 assists last year while serving as the backups behind Kambria Leazer.
Junior Mady Ott, fresh off another all-state season on the softball field, is expected to play a key role as a middle hitter. Sophomores Sophia Heither and Sidney Rogers are also in the mix at that position.
“Some keys for our team reaching their potential will be to keep the focus on getting better each day/week, staying healthy, weathering the storms, keeping our energy level up throughout each match and the season, and working on the small things,” Rinehart said. “This team has a lot of weapons, depth and we feel like we have several options for lineups that we can utilize.”