A third consecutive postseason sweep has put the Ankeny Centennial volleyball team in a familiar spot.
The second-ranked Jaguars posted a 25-23, 25-17, 25-23 victory over No. 8 Iowa City West in the Class 5A quarterfinals on Monday at Xtream Arena in Coralville. They advanced to the semifinals for the fourth year in a row.
“It feels really good. It’s super exciting,” said Centennial setter Maegan Cheeseman. “This team just loves each other so much, so I’m glad that we get another day (together).”
Cheeseman and fellow senior Tatem Schmidt led Centennial (33-5) to its 11th straight win. Schmidt racked up 11 kills, 15 assists and 15 digs, while Cheeseman contributed 10 kills and 17 assists.
“That was so cool,” Centennial coach Jessica Rinehart said of her dynamic duo’s performance. “I was just out there watching them do all the things and smiling and having fun, and that’s all I would hope for them. They put us on their backs, both physically and from a leadership standpoint. They certainly helped lead us to where we got today.”
The Jaguars outhit Iowa City West by a .222 to .156 margin. The Trojans (27-6) got 16 kills from Iowa State commit Sophia Austen and 11 more from Cyan Blommer, but it wasn’t enough.
“We knew they had two great outsides, and we were going to have to shut them down eventually,” Schmidt said. “I feel like we did do that. Our defense stepped up, and we touched a lot of balls.”
Centennial never trailed in the opening set. The Jaguars took a 21-16 lead on a kill by Cheeseman, but Iowa City West later tied it at 23-23 after Austen pounded three consecutive kills.
Schmidt responded, though, with back-to-back kills to close it out. She had six kills, four assists and seven digs in the first set.
“Tatem is always one of the people I’m looking to go to, and I know she’ll put a ball down no matter what,” Cheeseman said. “She’s smart with it. I trust her tremendously.”
There were 10 ties and five lead changes in a seesaw Set 2. The Trojans led much of the way before Ellie Pollock smashed a kill to put Centennial ahead for good, 11-10.
The Jaguars later closed out the set with a 9-3 run, capped off by another kill from Pollock.
“West is a great team,” Rinehart said. “We had to earn every single one of our points, and I’m really proud of our people for the way they played and stuck in there and won some big points. They were definitely earned–not given.”
There were nine ties and three more lead changes in Set 3. The Trojans jumped out to a 5-1 lead before Centennial answered with an 8-2 run.
Cheeseman pounded three straight kills to give the Jaguars a 9-7 advantage.
“I did not want it to go any further than three (sets),” Cheeseman said. “We had the momentum so I was like, ‘Let’s close this out.'”
Iowa City West rallied, though, and used a 5-0 run to take a 16-13 lead. The Trojans later moved ahead, 23-21, on a kill by Austen.
However, a kill by Adilyne Reyes turned the tide back in Centennial’s favor. Schmidt followed with another kill to tie it at 23-23.
“It was really crucial (to close it out right there),” Schmidt said. “We just had to put our foot on the gas and just keep pushing away.”
Kaelyn Rinehart served an ace, her third of the match, to put the Jaguars on the brink of victory. Iowa City West then hit the ball out of bounds to seal the outcome.
“It feels awesome,” Schmidt said. “We’re so excited.”
Sophia Heither had eight kills for Centennial, Pollock chipped in six, and Mady Ott added five more while hitting .400 for the match. Libero Mya Lei-Butters had a team-high 19 digs, and Pollock contributed 16.
Heither led the defense at the net with three blocks.
“We knew that they were going to set their outsides a lot of balls and we needed to be really strong with our hands there, because they are very terminal outsides,” Rinehart said. “We knew that their middles want to hit at Zone 1, and I thought we did an awesome job of taking that away and getting good quality touches. And we just knew that we had to serve tough to keep them out of system to help our side out.”
Lila Eastvold had 32 assists and two aces for Iowa City West, which reached the state tournament for the first time since 2014. Izzie McDonald racked up 23 digs.
The Jaguars will play No. 7 Valley (28-12) in the semifinals on Wednesday at 10:25 a.m. on Court Two. The Tigers outlasted No. 3 and defending champion Pleasant Valley in five sets to advance.
“We’ve seen both of them this season. We know how to prepare for both,” Rinehart said before her team’s next opponent had been determined. “We just want to keep playing good ball on our side of the net like we did today. That’s going to be our goal.”
Centennial swept the Tigers during pool play at its home tournament on Aug. 30. The two teams met again at Centennial on Sept. 18, when the Jaguars rallied from a 2-1 deficit to win a CIML Conference match.
Centennial is looking to reach the championship for the first time since 2018, when the Jaguars completed a run of four titles in five years.
“It’s going to take a lot of hard work and a lot of practice and just play our best ball all the way through, but there’s definitely a chance,” Schmidt said.
