It took awhile for the Ankeny Centennial volleyball team to hit its stride on Thursday night.
But once the Jaguars did, they were nearly unstoppable.
Top-ranked Centennial rallied from a one-set deficit to post a 19-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-15 victory at No. 3 Ankeny in a CIML Conference showdown. The Jaguars shook off some rust to defeat their crosstown rival for the fourth straight time.
“It’s been more than a week since we’ve played so just getting back into the flow of competition took a little while,” said Centennial senior Jaeden Pratt. “But once we made our adjustments and put (setter Maegan) Cheeseman back in the 5-1 (offense), it opened up the net a lot more for us hitters.”
Pratt pounded 16 kills, Delaney Miller had 15, and Sophia Heither added eight more as Centennial remained unbeaten in conference play. The Jaguars are now 4-0 in the league and 15-3 overall, while Ankeny’s records dropped to 3-2 and 25-4.
“It would mean so much if we could win the conference, especially with it being my last year,” said Miller. “The CIML is a stacked conference, so the fact that we might be able to do that is awesome.”
The Jaguars outhit Ankeny by a .177 to .107 margin and also won the serving battle. They completed 97.8 percent of their serves (88-of-90), while the Hawkettes connected on just 91.2 percent of their attempts (73-of-80).
“It’s always a big game and a fun one,” said Centennial coach Jessica Rinehart. “This was a good one to win.”
The loss, meanwhile, ended a seven-match winning streak for the Hawkettes.
“I think they definitely scouted us and watched what works on the court and where to hit,” Ankeny senior Kamryn Scheib said of the Jaguars. “I think that was their biggest takeaway.”
Ankeny got off to a good start, using a 9-3 run to break away from a 16-16 tie in the opening set. The Hawkettes closed out the set when Pratt served the ball into the net for Centennial’s second service error.
The Jaguars were then perfect from behind the service line the rest of the way.
“We really didn’t look like ourselves at the beginning,” Rinehart said. “Once we settled in–slowly but surely it just kept coming–then we were able to play some really good volleyball toward the end of the match.”
Ankeny jumped out to a 9-6 lead in Set 2 before the Jaguars answered with a 12-2 run to build an 18-11 advantage. Heither had two of her 10 blocks during the spurt.
“I think we just lost a lot of our momentum, and our energy went down,” Scheib said. “They figured out what was working and used it.”
Centennial eventually closed out the set on a kill by Heither, who hit .438 on the night.
There were 12 ties and five lead changes in the pivotal third set. After a kill by Ankeny’s Reagan Hanfelt tied the score at 22-22, Pratt responded with a kill to put the Jaguars ahead for good.
“Jaeden caught on fire about 1 1/2 games in and didn’t stop,” Rinehart said. “It was fun watching her put holes in the floor basically.”
Centennial never trailed in Set 4. The Jaguars took an early 8-2 lead, and Ankeny could get no closer than three points the rest of the way.
Centennial closed out the match with a 6-0 run, capped off by a kill from Miller.
“I think we just had to get that first (set) under our belt,” said Miller, who also had 13 digs, five blocks and three aces. “The environment is always pretty crazy. With a lot of young (players), they just needed to adjust to it and I think they did an amazing job in those next three (sets).”
Cheeseman dished out 36 assists in the win. She also completed all 21 of her serves.
Pratt finished with 18 digs, Mya Lei-Butters had 17, and Tatem Schmidt added 13 digs and five blocks.
“Ankeny has beaten a lot of good teams this year, so that’s a huge win for us,” Pratt said.
Hanfelt led the Hawkettes with 16 kills while hitting .429 on the night. Scheib and Olivia Eike each had eight kills, and Maya Ridgeway added six.
Scheib reached the 500-kill career mark. She also had three blocks, 13 digs and completed all 13 of her serves.
Gracyn Adams had 21 assists for Ankeny. Miya Steinkamp added 19 and also had a pair of aces.
Hanfelt led the defense with four blocks, while Carly Olson added three. Baileigh Carlsen contributed 21 digs.
The two teams could potentially meet again in the Class 5A state tournament–just like they did in last year’s quarterfinals.
“I would love that,” Scheib said. “100 percent.”
Both squads will be back in conference play on Tuesday. Ankeny will host No. 4 Dowling (19-6), while the Jaguars will play at No. 8 Waukee (10-12).
