Playing on the road doesn’t seem to bother the Ankeny Centennial volleyball team.
The top-ranked Jaguars earned their fifth consecutive road victory–and their second sweep in three days–with a 25-23, 25-18, 25-18 win at No. 12 Valley on Thursday.
The win allowed Centennial to remain unbeaten in CIML Conference play. The Jaguars are now 6-0 in the league and 17-3 overall, while Valley’s records dropped to 3-4 and 9-15.
“It’s always nice to walk away with a road win and to get it done in three (sets),” said Centennial coach Jessica Rinehart. “We did what we needed to do to get the (win).”
Delaney Miller had 15 kills, 10 digs and two aces in the win while hitting .364 on the night. Jaeden Pratt chipped in 12 kills and 12 digs, while Mady Ott added six kills.
Maegen Cheeseman dished out 19 assists as the Jaguars hit .252 as a team. Tatem Schmidt contributed 18 assists.
Ott and Sophia Heither each had a pair of blocks. Mya Lei-Butters racked up 15 digs and also completed all nine of her serves.
Centennial had four aces but also committed five service errors, going 66-of-71 from behind the line (93.0 percent).
“I’m not sure anyone is satisfied with the night as a whole,” Rinehart said. “This week, we’ve struggled with consistency and making unforced errors on our side. Those are things that we need to clean up as we enter the final stretch of our season, and I know our team is hungry to get back to work and to keep moving forward!”
Centennial hasn’t lost since falling to then-No. 7 Waukee Northwest in the semifinals of the Metro Classic on Sept. 14 at Southeast Polk. The Jaguars rebounded with a five-set victory at then-No. 3 Dowling Catholic three days later, followed by a four-set win at No. 3 Ankeny on Sept. 26 and then swept No. 8 Waukee on the road Tuesday.
Centennial leads Waukee Northwest (5-1) by a game in the conference standings. The Jaguars can clinch at least a tie for the league title with a win over visiting Johnston on Tuesday, then will host Southeast Polk in their conference finale on Oct. 15.
Centennial will play in the Urbandale Invitational on Saturday.