(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
Ankeny Christian Academy needed just three more wins to etch its name in the history books as a threepeat state volleyball champion.
The magic number has been reduced to two as the top-seeded Eagles cruised to a 25-9, 25-16, 25-17 sweep over No. 8 Don Bosco in a Class 1A quarterfinal on Tuesday at Xtream Arena in Coralville.
“I’m super excited,” said senior Carley Craighead. “We had control over that whole game, and I think that gave us a lot of confidence going into the rest of the tournament.”
This was the second meeting between the two teams at the state tournament. In 2022, then-No. 4 seed Ankeny Christian matched up with No. 5 Don Bosco during the quarterfinals, which ended with a 25-16, 25-13, 25-14 sweep for an Eagles team that went on to win their first of back-to-back titles.
With the chance to repeat history on the line, Ankeny Christian (38-5) came out on top with plenty of sophomores from the 2022 matchup returning as seniors and leading the Eagles to victory on Tuesday.
Craighead led ACA in kills in both matchups. She tallied a team-high 15 kills as a sophomore, and she led the way on Tuesday with 14 kills.
But Craighead wasn’t the only one who was finding success against the Dons. Anna Weathers contributed 11 kills, Macey Nehring chipped in seven while recording a team-high 11 digs, and Katie Quick also had seven kills while racking up 34 assists.
“I think that first win (at state) is huge,” said Quick. “We were all hungry to get back to state, so that first game can kind of be nerve-racking and we have some freshmen who haven’t been here before. All the pressure was good for us–we came out really strong and handled it well.”
All four of those seniors had played big roles as sophomores in ACA’s previous win over the Dons. Quick led the team in assists (25), Weathers tied Craighead for most aces (4) and finished third on the team in kills (5), and Nehring was second in kills (8) and led in digs (13).
Much like in 2022, the Eagles are hoping their win over the Dons will fuel another run to a state title.
They proved why they’ve held down the No. 1 ranking all season by coming out firing at the start and holding Don Bosco (20-16) to just nine points in the first-set victory.
Craighead and Weathers powered the Eagles early in the set, which led right into a 10-1 run that put ACA up 17-5. The senior tandem finished the set with 12 combined kills.
Freshman Breeze Bentz helped the Eagles close out the set.
“It’s awesome,” Craighead said of the team’s fast start. “When we went into practice, like when it got into conference (play), we were always focusing on the better teams and wanting to play our best.”
Don Bosco battled to keep its season alive, but couldn’t get over the hump to take a set away from the reigning two-time champs.
ACA answered a small 3-0 run with a 6-1 run to turn a 9-8 lead into a 15-9 margin midway through the second set. That proved to be a good enough cushion for the Eagles to remain in control for the rest of the set.
Craighead and Weathers both reached their 10th kills of the night late in the set with Craighead closing it out for a 2-0 advantage.
The Eagles were poised to make the third and final set end quickly after jumping out to a 6-1 lead. But with their season on the line, the Dons clawed back.
Don Bosco managed to cut its deficit to just two points. But with so many options around the court to fall back on, ACA was always able to come up with the big point that kept it ahead.
“They came back a little bit stronger, and we kind of let our foot off the gas a little bit,” Quick said. “I think we did good at focusing on getting to the next point and taking things one point at a time.”
Quick spearheaded ACA’s late push to close out the set by recording back-to-back points that clinched the Eagles’ sweep.
ACA is now set to face No. 4 Riverside (39-3) in the Class 1A semifinals on Wednesday at 6 p.m. The Bulldogs defeated No. 5 North Tama in five sets on Tuesday.
The only time in recent history that the Eagles and Bulldogs crossed paths was during the 2023 Region 4 championship, which saw ACA sweep Riverside ahead of its second consecutive state title.
