The first step toward a third consecutive Class 1A state championship proved to be an easy one for the Ankeny Christian Academy volleyball team.
The top-ranked Eagles cruised to a 25-3, 25-15, 25-5 victory over visiting Melcher-Dallas in a regional quarterfinal on Wednesday. It was their second win over the Saints, who finished the season with a 9-13 record.
ACA won the first meeting, 25-11, 25-9, on Oct. 1 at Moravia.
“The team played very well. Things went very smooth,” said ACA coach Michele Quick, whose team improved to 35-5. “Katie (Quick) is still recovering from an ankle injury, but is making progress.”
The Eagles dominated the match with their serving, racking up 23 aces in 73 attempts. They lead the entire state with 448 aces, 130 more than North Tama.
Carley Craighead completed 24-of-26 serves and had 10 aces. Anna Weathers added six aces and now has 89 on the season, trailing only teammate Katie Quick’s 103 among the state leaders.
“It was pretty much a serving game for us,” coach Quick said. “Carley served very strong, and so did Anna.”
ACA hit .558 on the night, pounding 33 kills in 52 total attacks with just four hitting errors. Craighead led the way with nine kills, Macey Nehring chipped in seven, and Morgan Fincham had six.
Weathers added five kills and hit a perfect 1.000 for the Eagles. She also had six digs.
Katie Quick contributed 22 assists and seven digs. Breeze Bentz had four kills and the team’s lone block.
The Eagles will host Sigourney (17-5) in a regional semifinal on Monday. The Savages defeated Montezuma in four sets on Wednesday.
“I’ve been watching film on Sigourney as I expected them to win,” coach Quick said. “They run a much slower tempo than us and rely heavily on their outsides to hit. We will get to work in practice and continue to fine tune our offense and defense.”
