Saturday’s Ankeny Centennial Early Bird Invitational featured many of the state’s top volleyball teams, including nine of the top 10 squads in the Class 5A preseason rankings.
Both Centennial and Ankeny came away from the tournament feeling good about their performance.
The fourth-ranked Jaguars advanced to the championship match with a 22-25, 27-25, 15-10 win over No. 9 Ankeny. They then dropped a 25-18, 25-15 decision to No. 1 Waukee Northwest in the final.
“I was extremely happy with how we played,” said Centennial coach Jessica Rinehart, whose team is now 6-1 on the season. “We did a great job fighting our way through some close matches and finding a way to come out on top! The volleyball throughout both gyms was high level and fun to watch.”
Ellie Pollock had five kills and Mya Lei-Butters added six digs in the title match, but it wasn’t enough as Northwest improved to 6-0 on the season. The Wolves defeated Centennial in last year’s Class 5A semifinals after ousting Ankeny in the quarterfinals.
The Jaguars will get a chance to avenge Saturday’s loss when they travel to Northwest on Tuesday for their CIML Conference opener.
“Northwest is a good team, and the match on Tuesday will be tough,” Rinehart said. “But, we’re a good team and I believe in our people and what they are doing both on and off the court!”
In the semifinals, Ankeny won the opening set and had a chance to close it out in the second set before Centennial rallied. Tatem Schmidt racked up eight kills for the Jaguars, Sophia Heither added seven more and six blocks, Maegan Cheeseman dished out 22 assists, and Lei-Butters contributed 22 digs.
“This tournament always gives a great first look at what we will be going up against in 5A,” Rinehart said. “To finish second is a great accomplishment and hopefully it furthers our team’s belief in themselves and what they can accomplish this season.”
Ankeny coach Liz Baethke was also happy with the effort of her team, which is now 6-2.
“I was incredibly pleased with today,” she said. “We had an extremely tough pool and ran out of gas toward the end. We have shown considerable growth even since Tuesday (at the Ankeny Quadrangular). I’m super excited for these kids! They compete, they work hard, and they play with pure joy.”
The Hawkettes posted a 2-1 record during pool play. They opened the tournament with a 21-17, 21-17 win over Davenport Assumption, the No. 3 team in Class 3A, before posting a 21-15, 21-17 victory over Waterloo West.
After dropping a 21-17, 21-8 decision to Northwest, Ankeny then rebounded with a 25-21, 26-24 triumph over No. 3 Waukee in the quarterfinals. The Warriors were coming off a three-set victory over No. 2 Pleasant Valley, the defending state champion, to win their pool.
Centennial, meanwhile, won its pool without dropping a single set. The Jaguars posted wins over No. 10 Bettendorf (21-12, 21-10), No. 7 Valley (21-10, 21-12) and Class 2A No. 6 Dike-New Hartford (21-15, 21-11).
Centennial then followed with a 26-28, 25-16, 20-18 victory over No. 5 Dowling Catholic in the quarterfinals. Schmidt had nine kills for the Jaguars, while Heither and Pollock each added seven.
Ankeny will host Valley (6-3) in its conference opener on Tuesday.
