(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
It had been awhile since the Ankeny volleyball team got the luxury of playing on its home court after weeks of road matches and tournaments.
Despite still recouping from a six-match outing–which included playing a quarterfinal round matchup instead of getting a bye–at the Live Like Line Invitational hosted by Iowa City West on Saturday, the second-ranked Hawkettes returned home on Tuesday and swept No. 15 Johnston in three sets, 25-16, 25-19, 25-15.
“By the time we got to Dowling Catholic (in Saturday’s title match), I thought we were a little gassed,” said Ankeny coach Liz Baethke. “But it’s ok. We kept trading off sets, we played well and I was happy with (Saturday). I’m happy with following up (against Johnston). We didn’t look quite as sharp, but I think we’re still pretty tired from that tournament.”
The last time Ankeny played on its home court was when the Hawkettes swept North Polk, Ankeny Christian Academy and Dike-New Hartford during the Ankeny Quadrangular on Aug. 27.
Ankeny hasn’t missed much of a beat since then as the Hawkettes improved to 19-3 on the season and picked up another valuable win amidst a loaded CIML Conference title race. They are now 2-1 in league play, putting them in a tie for fourth place.
The Dragons got a healthy dose of Ankeny’s top two kills leaders in the first set as seniors Kamryn Scheib and Reagan Hanfelt combined for eight kills. Hanfelt ended the night with 10 kills, while Scheib added eight.
Ankeny used a couple of small runs to start building up its lead and pulled ahead by six points at 17-11 before the Dragons tried closing the gap a little bit.
Hanfelt put the writing on the wall for the first set when she gave the Hawkettes back-to-back points with her fourth kill of the set and one of her three aces to force a Johnston timeout at 21-15.
“We knew we were going to have to serve tough, and I thought our serving was spot on because we disrupted their offense quite a bit,” Baethke said.
The Hawkettes went on a 6-1 run to close out the set for the 25-16 victory.
Johnston’s best chance at taking a set from Ankeny turned out to be in the second set, where the Dragons were attempting to claw back from another deficit.
After trading points for the first half of the set, Ankeny rattled off a quick 5-0 run to build a 19-13 advantage. The Dragons went on a 5-3 run to shorten the gap to 22-18.
Marlee Ellison picked up her second kill of the set and opened the doors for Scheib to record back-to-back kills to put the Hawkettes ahead two sets to none with a 25-19 victory.
Ellison and seniors Maya Ridgeway and Olivia Eike gave the Dragons a different look in the second set, and the trio helped power Ankeny to the sweep as they combined for over 10 kills in the third set.
“I’m confident that when we pass like that, we’re going to get it done. We’re going to execute, and we’re going to terminate,” Baethke said.
Despite Johnston opening the third set with the lead in an attempt to keep its match hopes alive, the Hawkettes pulled back ahead and didn’t look back as they closed out the match in convincing fashion. Eike recorded two kills, Jade Moser had one, and Ilana Coleman added an ace to close out the set.
Ankeny led Johnston in every aspect as the Hawkettes combined for 39 kills, 36 assists, a .237 kill efficiency, 17 blocks, 37 digs, eight ace serves and a 95.9% serve efficiency (70-of-73). The Dragons recorded 27 kills, 26 assists, a .129 kill efficiency, seven blocks, 36 digs, three aces and a 94.2% serve efficiency (49-of-52).
Just as quickly as the season started, the end of the regular season and postseason play are right around the corner.
Between jockeying for position in a strong CIML race and near the top of the Class 5A rankings, every win is important for the Hawkettes–who will now set their sights on recovering for the Waukee Invitational on Saturday.
“I just want to finish out the week on Saturday, I want us to play well, and I think it’s a tournament that we can win,” Baethke said. “We only have one other Saturday left besides this one, so it’s just kind of rapidly approaching.”
