(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
The Jaguars know there’s no such thing as a “gimme game” when it comes to the Central Iowa Metropolitan League.
But after sweeping the Waukee Warriors in three sets on the road Tuesday night, the top-ranked Ankeny Centennial volleyball team is so close to locking up its first league title since 2021 that the Jaguars can almost put their paws on it.
“I thought we played ok tonight,” said Centennial coach Jessica Rinehart. “We had moments of greatness, and we’re still working on stringing those into full nights of greatness. But I thought we did what we needed to do.”
The Jaguars improved to a perfect 5-0 in conference play with their win and only have three more matches between them and the CIML title with an undefeated league record.
And their last three opponents are three of the bottom four teams in the conference.
Centennial started its conference run with a huge fifth-set comeback against Waukee Northwest on Sept. 3, followed by a brisk sweep of Urbandale and went into Tuesday’s matchup with Waukee by coming off back-to-back conference wins over Dowling Catholic and Ankeny.
The win over the Warriors gives the Jaguars an edge over the four teams that trail just behind them in the conference standings.
On top of inching their way closer to the CIML title, the Jaguars also got the chance to avenge an earlier loss when Waukee bested Centennial in three sets during the Centennial Invitational on Aug. 31.
“After losing at our Centennial tournament, that wasn’t our best ball,” said senior Delaney Miller. “So we wanted to go out and play our best ball here. We started a bit slow, but getting that revenge game under our belt felt good and it’ll give us confidence to close out the conference.”
The No. 8 Warriors gave Centennial two close sets to open up the match, but the Jaguars found a way to pull ahead in the end.
No lead in the first set ever surpassed more than three points. Waukee opened with a 2-0 lead and the Jags bounced right back on a short run for a 9-6 lead, which ended up evening out at 12-12.
Leading 21-20 late in the set, senior Jaeden Pratt recorded one of her 10 kills on the night and was immediately followed by a Waukee hitting error that forced a timeout. The timeout didn’t end up helping the Warriors when a block from Pratt and an ace from junior Mya Lei-Butters sealed the first set 25-21.
The second set was similar with a trading of points and short runs keeping things close until the end.
Centennial found plenty of success during the set from its middles in junior Mady Ott and sophomore Sophia Heither. The tandem finished the night with a combined 13 kills and six blocks.
“Our middles are doing phenomenal, and it took a little bit for setters and middles to connect,” Rinehart said. “They were both new to each other, but now that we’re in the flow, we’re so excited to pass well because they can be deadly.”
Heither was the one to record a kill that gave the Jaguars a 24-22 lead late in the set. After an attempted block by the Jags went out, the Warriors didn’t give themselves the chance to tie the set at 24 with a serve sailing long clinching the set for Centennial.
When Centennial’s conference run started against Waukee’s crosstown rivals, Northwest, the Jags found themselves in a similar spot: a 2-0 lead and threatening a sweep.
But unlike the Northwest match, which saw the Wolves battle back and force a fifth set, the Jaguars were in firm control of the third set for their road sweep over the Warriors.
Waukee had a tough time finding answers to stopping Pratt and Miller all throughout the third and final set.
Between Miller’s 14 kills and Pratt’s 10, the duo accounted for 24 of Centennial’s 42 kills on the night. On top of that, they combined for 25 of the team’s 46 digs. Pratt reached the 500 career dig milestone with her 14 digs.
“We started off without our usual flow,” Miller said. “So just getting back to that and making sure our servicing was on, got more touches on defense and got our offense going. I think that was going really well toward the end of the third set.”
Centennial was able to jump out to an early lead and carried around a four-point lead for a good chunk of the set. The Warriors took their final timeout trailing 21-15 and the Jags went on a 4-1 run to close out the third with a 25-16 victory.
The last three conference teams left on the schedule for the Jaguars include Valley (3-3), Johnston (1-5) and Southeast Polk (1-5).
Up next is a road match on Thursday at Valley, which is 9-14 overall.
