The Waukee volleyball team boasts one of the state’s most dominant players in senior outside hitter Malia Rogers.
But the Purdue recruit was no match for Ankeny Centennial’s relentless defensive effort on Tuesday.
The seventh-ranked Jaguars limited Rogers to just six kills and rolled to a 25-17, 25-8, 25-15 victory at No. 11 Waukee. The Warriors hit just -.010 in the CIML Conference match.
The two teams also met in the Marj White Classic on Aug. 27 at Valley Stadium, where Centennial posted a 25-18, 25-9 win.
“It really helped seeing them and how they played in setting it to Malia most of the time,” said Centennial freshman Madi VanBruggen. “We really got on her and got in her head. We really just executed, and we were hitting and serving it at her, too.”
Rogers had five kills in the first meeting against the Jaguars. She matched that total in the opening set on Tuesday, but then had just one more the rest of the way.
Centennial repeatedly served the ball at Rogers in an effort to wear her down.
“That was part of the game plan,” said Centennial coach Jessica Rinehart. “She’s their No. 1 attacker, so we wanted her to have to do more than just sit and hit bombs on us.”
The Jaguars pulled away from an early 11-11 tie to take control of the match. Bailey Snyder and VanBruggen each had five kills to match Rogers’ production in the opening set.
“We looked pretty good,” Rinehart said. “We had some moments where our tempo was so fast, and that was fun to see.”
Centennial extended its lead to 24-17 on an ace by Snyder. The Warriors then hit the ball into the net on set point.
The Jaguars relied on the serving of Kaelyn Rinehart to jump out to a big lead in Set 2. She had all three of her aces in a run that put Waukee into an 11-3 hole.
After Centennial closed out the set on a Warriors’ hitting error, the Jaguars again raced out to a huge lead in Set 3. That allowed Rinehart to substitute liberally late in the match.
Snyder eventually closed out the victory with her eighth kill of the night. VanBruggen led the way with 11 kills.
“I’ve been really impressed with how mature she is for such a young player on the court,” Rinehart said of VanBruggen. “You wouldn’t know she’s a freshman if you saw her for the first time. She fits in.”
One of VanBruggen’s spike attempts was rejected by Rogers for a Waukee point. But she didn’t let the huge block deter her.
“It’s been a learning experience,” she said. “Getting blocked really does help my mental game in like staying positive all the time, even when I’m not like at my greatest. That helped me.”
Sidney Rogers had seven kills for Centennial while hitting .353 in the match. Meryl Sandholm hit .364 while adding five kills.
Emma VandenHull dished out 12 assists, Kenna Sorensen chipped in nine, and Rinehart added eight while also racking up 16 digs. Sorensen went 18-of-18 from behind the serving line and contributed two aces along with VandenHull.
Ellie Pollock finished with 14 digs and a pair of blocks. Rogers also had two blocks, while VandenHull added 10 digs.
“I thought we had really good tempo,” VanBruggen said. “We got some of our highest points this season. It was fun.”
The win was the sixth in a row for the Jaguars, who improved to 1-1 in the conference and 10-3 overall. Waukee’s records dropped to 0-2 and 4-6 with its third straight loss.
“We’re getting there day by day,” Rinehart said. “We want to keep improving, but today was another big step forward and hopefully it carries into this weekend.”
Centennial will compete in the Metro Classic on Saturday at Southeast Polk.
