(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
Ankeny Christian Academy’s route back to Coralville includes two championship rematches from last season, and the Eagles have already survived the first one.
Seventh-ranked ACA swept visiting Southeast Warren (25-14, 25-15, 25-15) in Monday’s Class 1A regional semifinal to set up a Region 8 championship match against No. 6 and top-seeded BCLUW on Wednesday.
“We asked them at the beginning of the game to focus on your job on a one-on-one basis,” said ACA coach Michele Quick. “When each person does their job, they all fit really well together. The control they had tonight, we’ve been training smart and putting the ball where it needs to be and they executed that efficiently tonight and (in the quarterfinal round against Martensdale-St. Mary’s).”
ACA and Southeast Warren met in a regional final last season, where the Eagles also swept the Warhawks before going on to win their third straight Class 1A crown by sweeping BCLUW in the title match.
The Eagles (28-13) are bringing in plenty of momentum to Wednesday’s match at Nevada High School after another convincing win over Southeast Warren.
Things got off to a slower start in the first set before the Eagles were able to spark a couple of runs that quickly put the Warhawks behind.
ACA went on a 5-1 run after Southeast Warren tied it at 5-5 to get a little bit of a cushion.
The Eagles then used a 9-1 run to turn an 11-8 lead into a commanding 20-9 advantage late in the set. The tandem of junior Katelyn Weathers and senior Ella Leever recorded back-to-back kills to clinch the set for ACA.
“We had a little practice before, and I think that really got us in gear,” Leever said. “Then we came here, and we were all fired up and ready to go.”
That momentum transitioned right into the start of the second set where the Eagles went on an 8-1 run spearheaded by freshman Havanna Dolbeare, Leever and some strong serving from freshman Avlyn Davis.
Southeast Warren tried to claw its way back into things even after facing a 14-3 deficit, but the Warhawks struggled to string together any runs late in the set and the Eagles took seven of the last nine points to close it out.
ACA expected a tough third set with Southeast Warren’s backs against the wall, and the Warhawks gave them a tough set.
An early 6-2 Eagles lead slowly dwindled down until a 5-0 Warhawk run gave Southeast Warren a 10-9 margin, which was its first lead of the night since leading 3-2 at the start of the first set.
With points bouncing back and forth, the Eagles just knew they needed one big play to ignite a spark.
“For our team, I feel like it’s just a big kill, something big or a big rally that we win that gets us going and then we can finish,” Leever said.
A Leever kill to give them a 13-12 lead did just that.
ACA went on a 6-0 run, and it was a run that saw Leever record four of the six points. Dolbeare and Weathers contributed the other two points to make it 18-12.
Dolbeare ended up starting a 7-1 run that helped the Eagles close out the contest and send them back into the regional final with a trip to the state tournament on the line.
The Warhawks, meanwhile, finished the season at 38-7.
“I wanted to get through the first and the second (sets) and the third gave us a little bit of a scare,” Quick said. “We thought it’d be more of a point by point match, and we expected that. But when they pulled away, they just delivered on what they needed to do.”
Wednesday’s regional final will be a rubber match between the Eagles and the Comets as the two teams split a pair of matchups at the Dunkerton tournament on Sept. 27. BCLUW (35-8) posted a 21-19, 21-19 win during pool play before ACA rallied for a 20-22, 22-20, 15-12 victory in the championship match.
“We know what they have and they know what we have, but we’ve changed almost everything since the last time we played them,” Quick said.
The Eagles know that they have to come out prepared if they want to send the Comets home early and have a chance at defending their 1A volleyball throne.
“I think we just need to stay strong, stay in it, be prepared for absolutely anything that can happen and come out Wednesday fired up,” Leever said.
