On a night when the Ankeny Centennial volleyball team wasn’t clicking on all cylinders, the third-ranked Jaguars still found a way to win.
Centennial rallied from a 2-1 deficit on Thursday to post a 16-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-19, 15-6 victory over No. 7 Valley. The Jaguars had dominated an earlier matchup in the same gym, rolling to a 21-10, 21-12 win at the Centennial tournament on Aug. 30.
Centennial coach Jessica Rinehart said her team got off to a slow start, but also credited the Tigers for raising their level of play.
“We came out flat, and they played really well,” Rinehart said. “We thought we would be able to get them out of system more, but they passed well and we had a hard time defending them at first.”
The win allowed Centennial to move into sole possession of third place in the CIML Conference. The Jaguars are now 3-1 in the league and 17-3 overall, while Valley’s records dropped to 1-4 and 14-10.
The Tigers were swept by No. 4 Ankeny on Sept. 2 and then lost to No. 6 Dowling Catholic in four sets a week later. But they also beat the Maroons at two different tournaments this month, showing a glimpse of their potential.
On Thursday, Valley nearly pulled off another upset. The Tigers got off to a fast start, dominating the first set and then later taking the third set to put Centennial on the brink of defeat.
However, the Jaguars rose to the challenge. They swept the last two sets to keep their CIML title hopes alive.
“We got better as the match went on, and I was really proud of our people for sticking in the match,” Rinehart said. “It was a tough turnaround after playing Dowling on Tuesday, and you could feel the energy in the gym as well as our team wasn’t quite where it was on Tuesday.”
Kaelyn Rinehart had 13 kills to lead Centennial, which hit .208 on the night. Mady Ott had 11 kills and posted a .370 hitting efficiency, committing just one error in 27 total attacks.
Tatem Schmidt chipped in 10 kills and 19 assists, while Maegan Cheeseman had nine kills and 24 assists. Cheeseman also had 16 digs and a pair of aces.
Ellie Pollock contributed nine kills and three blocks. She also completed all 18 of her serves.
Sidney Rogers had five kills and a team-high four blocks. Ott added three blocks, while libero Mya Lei-Butters racked up 22 digs.
The Jaguars used 11 different players in the match. Nora Bockes had two of the team’s seven aces.
Centennial will host Ankeny in the annual Jag-Hawk showdown on Thursday. The Hawkettes are 2-1 in the conference and 16-5 overall heading into the Waukee Invitational on Saturday.
“We have a very timely and much-needed weekend off coming up,” Rinehart said. “These girls have been working so hard and they need a break, some rest and to have some fun with homecoming.”