Its biggest test thus far on the postseason trail still resulted in a sweep for the Ankeny Christian Academy volleyball team.
The top-seeded Eagles moved one win away from a third consecutive state championship by defeating No. 4 Riverside, 25-12, 25-21, 25-18, in the Class 1A semifinals on Wednesday at Xtream Arena in Coralville. The Bulldogs became the first team to score more than 17 points in any set against ACA during the postseason.
“We knew they were going to be tough,” said ACA senior Anna Weathers. “We did beat them last year to get to state, and we knew they wanted to come back and get us. So we definitely brought our best.”
The Eagles (39-5) outhit Riverside by a .245 to .120 margin. The loss ended a 17-match winning streak for the Bulldogs, who finished with a 39-4 record.
“We’ve been following them throughout the season, kind of watching the success that they were having,” said ACA coach Michele Quick. “We knew they had a pretty solid record, so we did a lot of our prep (Tuesday) but we had already been looking at them over the last week or so. We had a pretty good idea of what we needed to do to kind of shift our offense or our defense just to prepare for where they were going to hit the ball and who they were going to be setting.”
Senior setter Katie Quick led the Eagles with 13 kills and 25 assists. Macey Nehring had eight kills and eight assists.
“It feels amazing,” Katie Quick said of the win. “I love being at state, and I love that we were able to make it to the championship. I hope we can close it out (Thursday).”
Carley Craighead and Weathers each had eight kills for ACA. They both had three of the team’s 12 aces.
Morgan Fincham chipped in four kills. Craighead, Fincham and Weathers each had two blocks, while Katelyn Weathers racked up 13 digs.
“They’re a great team,” Riverside coach Brooke Flathers said of the Eagles. “They work hard, but I thought our kids did a great job of adjusting and putting up a better fight in that second and third set. It was a good game.”
ACA dominated the first set, hitting .429 en route to the win. The Eagles jumped out to an 11-2 lead and eventually closed it out with a 9-2 run, capped off by a kill from Fincham.
There were seven ties in Set 2. Anna Weathers tipped the ball for a kill to break a 14-14 tie, then followed with an ace.
Katelyn Weathers later had back-to-back aces to help close out the set.
“Honestly, I felt like we had it all together,” said Anna Weathers. “We knew what we needed to do, and it was just a matter of doing it.”
Madison Kelley had four blocks for Riverside, which took a 15-14 lead in Set 3 before ACA closed out the match with an 11-3 run that included four kills by Quick.
“They were really good,” Katie Quick said of the Bulldogs. “They hit hard at us and were really good at keeping us out of system, so I think that’s good for us to be able to battle in some long rallies.”
Riverside was making its second appearance in the tournament after also qualifying in 2022. The Bulldogs set a school record for most wins this season.
“They’re very talented all around, and they played solid defense,” said Michele Quick. “They changed things up and tried to keep us guessing a little bit, but thankfully our girls were able to stay in charge and in control of things.”
The Eagles will face No. 6 BCLUW (33-10) in Thursday’s title match at 7 p.m. The Comets advanced with a sweep over No. 7 Janesville.
“It feels great,” said Anna Weathers. “I’m excited to be back in the finals.”
The Eagles defeated BCLUW in four sets in last year’s semifinals. The two teams also met on Sept. 28 at the Dunkerton tournament, where ACA rallied for a 22-24, 21-19, 15-12 victory.
“We played them last year and we played them earlier this year, so we’re a little more familiar with them,” Katie Quick said. “That’s who I was hoping we would play.”
ACA will try to complete an unbeaten season against Class 1A competition. Two of the Eagles’ five losses came to Pleasant Valley and Denver, which will also play for state titles on Thursday.
The five seniors on the ACA squad will attempt to close out their careers with a threepeat, something that only eight other programs in Iowa have ever accomplished.
“It’s a little sad (that it’s almost over),” Anna Weathers said. “But we got one more, and we’ve got to finish strong.”
Coach Quick is hoping to savor the final match.
“These (seniors) have an amazing future ahead of them, and it’s going to hit me like a ton of bricks when this run is over,” she said. “But we’ll worry about that (Thursday night).”
