The Ankeny Centennial volleyball team still needs to win two matches in order to qualify for the Class 5A state tournament, but the Jaguars appear to be well on their way to Coralville.
The second-ranked Jaguars closed out the regular season on Tuesday with a 25-10, 25-15, 25-15 sweep at Southeast Polk. The two teams could meet again in a regional final on Oct. 28 at Centennial.
Centennial (30-5) will host Cedar Rapids Jefferson (8-27) or Des Moines North (2-18) in a regional semifinal on Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. With a victory, the Jaguars would host Southeast Polk (13-16) or Linn-Mar (Marion) (12-20) in the regional final five days later.
The Rams appear to be the biggest roadblock standing in Centennial’s way, but Tuesday’s match showed that the gap between the two squads is significant. Coach Jessica Rinehart said her team treated Southeast Polk like any other opponent–even though there could be a rematch in two weeks.
“We approached it in the same way we intend to approach every match from here on out,” said Rinehart. “We are on a mission to play great ball on our side of the net.”
The win was Centennial’s eighth in a row and allowed the Jaguars to finish in a second-place tie with No. 3 Dowling Catholic in the CIML Conference. The Maroons had a chance to earn a share of the league title, but they were swept at No. 1 Waukee Northwest (8-0) on Tuesday.
Both Centennial and Dowling finished 6-2 in the conference, although the Jaguars won the head-to-head matchup on Sept. 16. The Rams dropped to 1-7 in the league, with their lone win coming against 2-29 Urbandale.
“I thought the match was a good way to finish out our regular season,” Rinehart said. “We took control from the get-go and never really looked back. We had several players contribute, and everyone collectively took care of their jobs.”
The Jaguars outhit Southeast Polk by a .288 to .058 margin. Tatem Schmidt racked up 10 kills and 14 assists, Mady Ott had seven kills, and Maegan Cheeseman added six kills and 23 assists.
Sophia Heither also had six kills, while Sidney Rogers made a pair of blocks. Kaelyn Rinehart finished with 13 digs.
Centennial recorded 11 aces while completing 65-of-71 serves (91.5 percent). Schmidt and Mya Lei-Butters each had four aces.