(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
Whether it’s the Hawkettes or the Eagles, there’s plenty of new faces stepping up into larger roles as both volleyball teams look to reload their respective rosters.
Ankeny and Ankeny Christian Academy are both trying to fill the gaps left by big senior classes, and Ankeny’s Tuesday quadrangular featuring ACA, Dike-New Hartford and North Polk gave the Hawkettes and Eagles a chance to test out their new-look lineups.
The ninth-ranked Hawkettes went 3-0 on the day by posting 2-0 victories over ACA and North Polk before outlasting DNH 2-1 to end the night. ACA fell to 0-3 on the day after dropping its first two matches to Ankeny and DNH before narrowly losing in three sets to North Polk.
“We handled (the first games) pretty well,” said Ankeny senior Hailey Flanders. “We have a very new team and a very young team, so I thought it was a very good start to the season.”
“We’re strong and we put up great fights,” said ACA junior Katelyn Weathers. “There’s great and not-so-great things that happened tonight. We’ve got to put all that behind us and learn from it to become a better volleyball team.”
Ankeny took a major hit on the offensive side of things after the 2024 season with then-seniors Kamryn Scheib (316), Reagan Hanfelt (305), Olivia Eike (252) and Maya Ridgeway (221) racking up a combined 1,094 kills as the Hawkettes’ top four leaders in kills.
Baileigh Carlsen, now a freshman at Auburn, posted 525 digs and 42 aces as the starting libero. Hanfelt, a freshman at Iowa State, also recorded 111 blocks–nearly a third of the team’s 367 total blocks.
Despite all of their losses, the Hawkettes were able to open their season with three quality wins, including the sweeps over ACA (25-17, 25-15) and North Polk (25-18, 25-13).
“We definitely enjoy playing all the good competition,” said Ankeny junior Marlee Ellison. “Everybody in the CIML is really good and so are the three teams we played tonight. It was good to get right back into it.”
Ankeny knew it would have returners in Ellison and Raquel Risk up front with Miya Steinkamp returning at setter as its leader in assists last season. But the Hawkettes also found a couple of new pieces up front that look to make a big impact.
Junior Macie Kohl stepped in as another setter alongside Steinkamp following a season-ending injury to Gracyn Adams, fellow junior Quinn Roush stepped up in the middle and the Hawkettes found several options outside with senior Maliya Cobb, junior Teagan Moyer and sophomores Elle Isaacson and Hailey Wiederin.
Wiederin ended up leading the Hawkettes in kills with 25 through the three games. Isaacson finished with 18 kills and Ellison followed with 16.
“Graduating as many seniors as we did that left a lot of vacancies, having even the small amount of nucleus that we have is a key piece,” said Ankeny coach Liz Baethke.
The back row was bolstered with Flanders and fellow senior Madi Anselme stepping up into bigger roles. Flanders helped fill the gap left by Carlsen at libero during the three wins.
Ankeny never trailed during the first two matches of the day against ACA and North Polk.
Dike-New Hartford gave the Hawkettes their biggest challenge of the day as the Wolverines entered the season at No. 6 in the Class 2A preseason rankings.
DNH was the only team to take a set from the Hawkettes, and it took more than 25 points to do so. The Wolverines were able to land a pair of kills just inside the lines from Keely Kauten and Abby Jensen to outlast Ankeny, 28-26, in the first set.
“(DNH) brought a completely different energy that we weren’t used to,” Flanders said. “So we had to adjust and change how we were playing.”
There was a chance for the second set to also end up in a 24-24 tie, but Wiederin rose up to deliver a big kill on the outside to clinch the 25-23 victory to force a third set that Ankeny went on to win by a 15-10 margin to close out the match.
Ellison delivered a big kill to put the Hawkettes up 14-10 before the Wolverines sent a must-need kill a little too long for Ankeny’s match-clinching point.
“I think tonight I learned some things, and the team learned a lot about themselves,” Baethke said. “They can be pretty gritty, and I want to make sure they continue to have the confidence because they have the skillset.”
For the Eagles, they’ve been sitting comfortably on the throne of Class 1A volleyball over the past three seasons. However, the route back to the top has gotten much more difficult following the departure of their senior class.
Carley Craighead, Macey Nehring, Anna Weathers, Katie Quick and Morgan Fincham were key pieces to the Eagles’ run to three consecutive state titles and now a young ACA squad looks to fill the massive holes left behind.
Craighead (364), Nehring (312), Weathers (264), Quick (222) and Fincham (106) combined for 1,268 of the team’s 1,373 total kills. Quick, now a freshman setter at Drake, also led with 912 of the team’s 1,280 total assists and a team-high 120 ace serves.
“It’s a little bit different not having the big seniors there,” Katelyn Weathers said. “But everybody in our gym is a great volleyball player. We’re not necessarily six foot and smash the ball, but we’re scrappy, we all have our own strengths, and we all work together.”
Nehring, Quick and Weathers were the top three leaders in digs. Weathers also led the team in blocks with Quick and Craighead following her.
ACA only returned two regular starters from the previous season with Katelyn Weathers and sophomore Breeze Bentz stepping up to help guide the new-look Eagles’ lineup.
Bentz recorded 60 kills, 68 digs and four aces as a freshman. Weathers posted 15 kills, 24 assists, 183 digs and 46 aces as a sophomore.
Ella Bussell saw some playing time as just an eighth grader at setter and finished second on the team in assists with 145 total.
Liv Nehring, Elyse Walmsley, Ella Leever, Sydney Quick and Livi Johnson were all on the roster that saw the Eagles win their third title in a row and now look to step into expanded roles for this season.
“They’re playing amazing,” Weathers said. “It’s cool to see how everyone steps into the roles they’re given and knows that everyone on the team, upcoming or previously there, is supporting them.”
The season didn’t necessarily start off how the Eagles were hoping for after going 0-3 on the day. Last season, ACA went 2-1 overall with a close loss to Ankeny during the quad before embarking on a 40-5 overall season that ended with the 1A threepeat.
After being swept by Ankeny and DNH in their first two matches, the Eagles had a chance to pick up their first win after going to a third set and building a lead against North Polk, but the Comets rallied at the end to clinch the 2-1 victory over ACA.
“There’s ups and downs,” Weathers said. “We just need to work on getting lower on coverage, being more intentional and being able to come together when we’re down and not self-internalize. When we go up and down and up and down, that’ll just bring us lower and lower.”
