The Ankeny Centennial volleyball team is headed back to the Class 5A semifinals for the third consecutive year.
The second-ranked Jaguars posted a 25-19, 25-22, 25-23 victory over No. 7 Cedar Falls in the quarterfinals of the state tournament on Monday at Xtream Arena in Coralville.
“It feels incredible,” said Centennial outside hitter Delaney Miller, who recorded a match-high 24 kills. “Every single time, you don’t think it’ll get better but it does. It’s great.”
Monday’s match was a battle between two teams that combined to win six state titles from 2014-19. The Jaguars (32-4) won four of those crowns in 2014-16 and 2018, including victories over Cedar Falls for the last two crowns.
The Tigers (33-7) simply had no answers for the Centennial duo of Miller and Jaeden Pratt. Pratt had the last of her 10 kills to close out the match.
“They’re great, and they’re powerful,” Centennial coach Jessica Rinehart said of the two seniors. “We do talk about having a balanced offense, but sometimes it’s like, ‘Feed the beast and let them go.’ They did a good job.”
The Jaguars outhit Cedar Falls by a .155 to .066 margin. Maegan Cheeseman dished out 16 assists, and Tatem Schmidt added 11.
“The key was just not letting any balls drop,” said Cheeseman. “Being there for each other and just having the mindset that we’re not going to lose this thing.”
The Jaguars jumped out to a 13-6 lead in Set 3 and appeared to be cruising to a sweep. But Cedar Falls answered with a 12-4 run and took an 18-17 lead on an ace by Mackenzie Urbanek.
The Tigers extended the margin to 20-18 on a kill by Kya Bradfield before Centennial responded with a 7-3 run to close it out. Miller had four kills in the run, while Ellie Pollock and Cheeseman each had an ace before Pratt smashed a kill to seal the win.
“It felt great (to get that last point),” Pratt said. “The first game is a great one to get out of the way and it sets a tone for the rest of the tournament, so it’s a great win for us.”
The Jaguars got off to a fast start, jumping out to a 13-2 lead in Set 1. Schmidt had three of her four kills during that stretch.
Cedar Falls eventually closed the gap to 18-14 before a kill by Pratt stopped the Tigers’ run. Miller later pounded a kill to close out the set.
“Every single team deserves their spot here, and every single team is going to fight for their seniors for it not to be their last game of the season,” Miller said. “I think every single game is going to be a battle, and nobody gets a free pass this time of the year.”
That was even more evident in Set 2, when Cedar Falls answered a kill by Miller to open the set with nine consecutive points. Anni Wedgbury had a pair of aces in the Tigers’ run.
“We knew we needed to slow down their middle and be ready for shots,” Rinehart said. “They tipped even more than I thought they would. We had to get our off blockers to make sure they were protecting that, and they did a better job with that as the match went on.”
The Tigers still held a 16-10 lead before Miller had back-to-back kills to ignite a 15-6 run by Centennial. The Jaguars scored the last four points of the set, capped off by a kill from Pratt.
“We just had to take it point by point and know what our side can control,” Pratt said. “They’re really scrappy, so we knew they were going to get tons of ups and just keep playing them and trying to tire them out was kind of our goal, and we just stuck in and played our ball.”
Mya Lei-Butters had 20 digs for the Jaguars. Pratt finished with 17 digs and two blocks, while Miller added 14 digs and a pair of aces.
Kennedy Krecklow led the Tigers with nine kills. The Jaguars held Northern Iowa recruit Grace Hannam to just five kills.
Cedar Falls coach Matt Johnson was prevented from earning his 700th career win.
“It feels good to be done and get out of there,” Rinehart said. “Typically, our first match at state is never our best match. We had good stretches, but I’m just happy to get through that first one.”
The Jaguars will play No. 6 Waukee Northwest (27-9) in Wednesday’s semifinals at 10:25 a.m. The Wolves advanced with a sweep over No. 3 Ankeny.
It will be a rematch of last year’s semifinals, when Northwest prevailed in five sets and went on to capture the title.
“It’s really exciting for us,” Cheeseman said. “Playing Northwest will be awesome just because I know we’re not going to lose to them in the semis again, because that was a (painful loss). We’ve got a chance to get some revenge, and we’re hoping to get to the championship. We’re not done yet.”
Centennial won two of the three meetings against the Wolves this season. On Sept. 3, the Jaguars scored the final eight points in Set 5 for an improbable 16-14 victory that closed out the match.
“It’s always a tough one,” Pratt said. “Northwest is a great, young team, but I think we have a good chance this year and we’ll fight our very hardest.”
No. 1 Pleasant Valley (33-2) will face No. 4 Dowling Catholic (26-9) in the other semifinal. The championship match is slated for Thursday at 10 a.m.
“Every year we go into (the tournament) wanting to win the championship,” Miller said. “I think being a senior, I’m going to do everything that I can knowing that any game could be my last one. I’m going to fight as hard as I can for my teammates. Hopefully, we can get past that (semifinal) hurdle.”
