(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
A lot has changed on Ankeny’s volleyball roster between the 2024 and 2025 seasons, but the Hawkettes’ tradition of reaching the Class 5A state tournament hasn’t changed.
Ankeny faced heavy losses to graduation, simply reloaded its roster and officially punched its ticket right back to Coralville.
The sixth-ranked Hawkettes used a pair of dominating starts to the first and third sets to slam the door shut on visiting Cedar Rapids Kennedy for a 3-0 sweep (25-11, 25-20, 25-8) in Tuesday’s Class 5A regional final.
“We’re super excited (to return to the state tournament),” said junior outside hitter Marlee Ellison. “This was our main goal, and we’re ready for what’s ahead of us.”
Not a lot of people knew what to expect from the Hawkettes coming into the 2025 season after the amount of departures the team had from the previous year.
Ankeny (27-8) lost its top four kills leaders and its top three players in digs from a team that compiled a 36-5 record and earned a No. 3 seed in the 2024 state tournament.
Add in an injury that has sidelined junior setter Gracyn Adams–who was second on the team in assists with 478–for the whole season, and there were plenty of spots to fill.
But with just a couple of pieces from that team returning, the Hawkettes were able to plug up all the holes left in the roster and quickly proved to the rest of Class 5A that they were planning on contending for a title.
“Every time it comes to this point of the season, it’s just exciting and I think the girls really embraced the way they’ve practiced,” said Ankeny coach Liz Baethke, who has now guided the Hawkettes to the state tournament in each of her three years with the program. “This just feels different. I think they’re tired of just settling, and we’re going for it all.”
Cedar Rapids Kennedy (25-18) experienced just how dangerous the Hawkettes can be when everything is clicking all at once.
It took just three sets for Ankeny to get the job done, and the Hawkettes held 15-1 leads on two separate occasions.
They forced the Cougars to burn both timeouts within the first 10 points of the match once the Hawkettes led 6-1 and again when they led 10-1. Neither timeout was able to break up the massive run Ankeny went on after an Elle Isaacson kill.
Ankeny rattled off 12 unanswered points after Isaacson’s kill with other kill contributions from fellow sophomore Hailey Wiederin and Ellison. Senior Madi Anselme also had two of her four aces during the run.
“We were just keeping our pace, being consistent, knowing what we had to do and making our serves,” Ellison said. “They’re a really good team, and we just had to be at the top of our game.”
Add in a couple of kills from middle hitters Quinn Roush and Raquel Risk, and the Hawkettes held a staggering 19-3 lead to set the tone for the night.
They did nearly the same exact thing with a chance at the sweep on the line.
Just like the first set, Ankeny started the third set with a 3-0 lead, Kennedy earned a point to make it 3-1, and an Isaacson kill sparked a massive run.
This time the Hawkettes rattled off 13 unanswered points to take a 16-1 lead before the Cougars were able to stop the run. A 3-0 run was the most they could get back from Ankeny with Ellison, Wiederin, Teagan Moyer and Macie Kohl tallying the last few points to send the Hawkettes back to the state tournament.
“I was just staying aggressive,” Wiederin said after pounding a team-high 15 kills. “I was just trying to not get in my head about anything and just play freely.”
The only close set of the night came right in the middle with the second set where Ankeny was able to use a 6-1 run after being tied at 7-7 to get a little bit of a cushion.
Kennedy was able to pull it back within a point or two late in the set. Roush and Risk helped deliver some big kills down the stretch to set up Ellison for a set-clinching kill.
Ellison was one of the few returning pieces from last year’s team and is now a leader that Ankeny will rely on to help guide the Hawkettes as they head back to Coralville with plenty of players getting to experience it for the first time.
She contributed 121 kills as a sophomore last season and has already racked up 236 this fall. Against Kennedy, Ellison accounted for nine kills, which included kills to end each of the three sets.
“I just said at the banquet that (Ellison) has been a huge piece to our puzzle for three years in a row,” Baethke said. “To have someone like that and the nucleus around her, (the team) has leveled up.”
Miya Steinkamp was another core piece that returned to the lineup. She led the Hawkettes with 545 assists as a junior and currently leads the team with 542 following a 29-assist night against Kennedy.
Wiederin has been one of the big additions responsible for the Hawkettes earning their berth back to the state tournament. She has emerged as a go-to hitter with 294 kills this season.
Isaacson has also been a key addition and currently sits third on the team in kills with 191.
“It’s been great so far,” Wiederin said of the 2025 campaign. “The seniors and all the upperclassmen have been great to me and Elle. I worked really hard in the offseason to try to make a difference on this team, and we’ve been doing great so far.”
Ankeny will try to break its streak of quarterfinal losses on Monday as it faces No. 5 Dowling Catholic (18-11) at 2 p.m. on Court One at Xtream Arena. The Maroons advanced with a sweep over Sioux City East.
The Hawkettes will be looking to avenge a four-set loss at Dowling on Sept. 30. After that match, they were swept by No. 1 Waukee Northwest on Oct. 7 but have since won six straight matches while dropping just two sets along the way.
The winner of Monday’s match will face Northwest (35-1) or No. 11 Indianola (27-16) in Wednesday’s semifinals at 10 a.m. The championship match is slated for Thursday at 10 a.m.
Ankeny is seeking to reach the semifinals for the first time since 2021, when the Hawkettes overcame a 2-1 deficit to beat an Urbandale team coached by Baethke.
“We need to work really hard this week, just get mentally ready and prepared and be at the top of our game,” Ellison said.
