(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
The Ankeny Centennial volleyball team captured lightning in a bottle to start off its Tuesday night crosstown rivalry showdown against Ankeny.
But the sixth-ranked Jaguars weren’t able to keep it bottled up for long as No. 3 Ankeny overcame a resounding loss in the opening set to rally for a 15-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-14 victory on the road.
“Overall, I was kind of disappointed,” said Centennial coach Jessica Rinehart. “I thought we came out strong, then Ankeny picked it up and I felt like we didn’t really fight back. The wheels fell off a little bit, our execution fell off a little bit, and we just didn’t step up and fight back like we should’ve.”
Centennial faced an 8-5 deficit out of the gates, but it was one that quickly went away as a kill from senior middle hitter Sidney Rogers started a 7-0 run that put the Jaguars in the driver’s seat for the remainder of the set.
Multiple Jaguars found important roles in helping them take the lead and build upon it.
Rogers tallied an ace, junior Meryl Sandholm recorded back-to-back kills, and senior Ellie Pollock tallied a block and a kill on back-to-back points to force the first of Ankeny’s timeouts.
“We were serving well, we were passing nails, we just executed on our end and (Ankeny) was just making a lot of errors,” Rinehart said.
Pollock, senior Sophia Heither and freshman Madi VanBruggen helped expand their lead out to eight points going into Ankeny’s final timeout with Centennial up 18-10 late in the set.
The Jaguars were able to spread the wealth around their lineup, and they found success no matter who they turned to.
Centennial had six different players contribute at least two kills with VanBruggen’s team-high four first-set kills putting the Jaguars in a spot to close out the first set up 24-12. The Hawkettes managed a brief 3-0 run before an Ankeny hitting error ended the set.
“The first set we did a really good job connecting with our block,” said junior libero Kaelyn Rinehart, who led the Jaguars with 14 digs. “As the game went on, (Ankeny) was playing smarter and hitting better shots. We just weren’t connecting as well, so finding our flow between the block and our defense together will be important for the rest of the season.”
Once the Hawkettes started to get their gears turning, Centennial’s margin for error began to shrink and the Jaguars struggled to stop Ankeny’s runs.
The Hawkettes returned a lot of talent from their 2025 team that also posted a 3-1 win at Centennial after initially dropping the first set, and Ankeny was able to rely on those veterans to take control of the match.
Centennial wasn’t able to limit Ankeny’s outside and middle core consisting of juniors Hailey Wiederin and Elle Isaacson and seniors Marlee Ellison, Quinn Roush and Raquel Risk as much as the Jaguars were able to during the first set.
“We came out good, but we’re a team that’s pretty inexperienced and we don’t have too many returners,” Kaelyn Rinehart said. “We’re just working through each game getting better at playing under pressure and playing in the big moments.”
Ankeny held off a late Centennial run to tie the match at 1-1 with a 25-19 victory, and the Hawkettes then broke away from an 8-8 tie in the third set to post a 25-18 win for a 2-1 advantage.
The Jaguars had their backs up against the wall heading to the fourth set, and they attempted to alter their lineup in hopes of finding more success in slowing down their rival, but their 3-0 run was countered by a 7-1 Ankeny run that put the Hawkettes ahead for good.
Centennial stayed within striking distance before Ankeny slowly started to pull away midway through the set. The Hawkettes eventually scored the last four points to close out the match.
“We wanted to serve and pass because when that’s going well, we’re doing well, and we just wanted to get back to playing our game,” coach Rinehart said. “We tried a different lineup in that game four, which is something we wanted to see. I’m glad we tried it in a big match to kind of rule it out. It didn’t end up being the answer, but it was good to see it live.”
VanBruggen led Centennial with 16 kills, while Rogers chipped in eight. Heither had six kills and four blocks.
Emma VandenHull dished out 26 assists, completed all 16 of her serves and had one of the team’s three aces. Kenna Sorensen added 13 assists.
The Jaguars know their roster has the talent, and they have seen just how well things can go when they’re firing on all cylinders.
Right now one of their biggest focuses is finding a way to take their first set success against Ankeny and stretch it for the rest of the match.
“We need a more competitive mentality throughout the entire match,” coach Rinehart said. “We need to get quicker, play quicker and keep competing even when things are hard.”
“Each game now is uber important since we have lost a couple tough ones to start the season,” her daughter Kaelyn added. “We just have to get better each day so that we’re playing our best ball at postseason when it matters.”
Ankeny improved to 2-0 in the CIML Conference and 18-3 overall. The Jaguars’ records dropped to 1-2 and 13-5.
Centennial will travel to Urbandale on Thursday for another conference match against the J-Hawks, who are 0-3 in the league and 3-10 overall.
