With a dominating win on Tuesday, the second-ranked Ankeny Centennial volleyball team likely wrapped up the No. 1 spot in the next Class 5A rankings to be released on Thursday by the Iowa Girls’ High School Athletic Union.
The Jaguars romped to a 25-10, 25-4, 25-7 victory over visiting Urbandale in a CIML Conference match. They improved to 2-0 in the league and 10-2 overall, while the J-Hawks’ records dropped to 0-3 and 1-7.
“It was a good night for us,” Centennial coach Jessica Rinehart said on the Ankeny Fanatic weekly podcast. “We really took control of our side of things, executed really well, made limited errors and played a great match.”
It was the sixth straight triumph for Centennial, which hit .447 on the night. The Jaguars are tied for the conference lead with No. 1 Dowling Catholic and No. 9 Waukee.
Dowling is expected to drop in the rankings, however, after losing to No. 4 Ankeny in the Marj White Classic on Saturday at Valley. The Hawkettes won that tournament and would have had a strong argument for the No. 1 spot with a win on Tuesday at Waukee, but they were swept by the Warriors.
Delaney Miller and Jaeden Pratt each had nine kills in Centennial’s victory. Miller also contributed 12 digs, while Pratt completed all 15 of her serves.
Eleven players saw some action for the Jaguars.
“I think (this match) was needed just to kind of put together our game a little bit and focus on what we wanted to work on on our side of the net,” Miller said on the podcast. “It was good to get another conference game under our belt and just keep gaining that confidence as we go throughout the season.”
Finley Greiner racked up seven kills and two blocks for the Jaguars. Mady Ott, Tatem Schmidt and Sidney Rogers each added five kills.
Schmidt also dished out 18 assists, while Maegen Cheeseman had 16 assists and a pair of aces. Libero Mya Lei-Butters recorded 15 digs.
Centennial will compete in the Metro Classic on Saturday at Southeast Polk. The Jaguars will try to defend the title they won last year.