The Ankeny volleyball team entered Saturday’s Waukee Invitational with a lot of momentum after defeating a pair of top-10 opponents earlier in the week.
But the third-ranked Hawkettes, who posted wins at No. 5 Ankeny Centennial on Tuesday and against No. 9 Valley on Thursday despite battling some injuries, are now dealing with some more health issues.
“We played five matches,” said Ankeny coach Liz Baethke. “We went 3-2 on the day, and now I have several injured players.”
Ankeny split its four matches during pool play. The Hawkettes posted a 21-11, 21-15 win over Algona and a 21-14, 21-19 victory over Sergeant Bluff-Luton, the No. 7 team in Class 4A.
Ankeny dropped a 23-21, 21-16 decision to Hinton, the No. 3 team in Class 2A. Baethke’s team also lost to No. 13 Indianola, 9-21, 21-15, 15-13.
After a short break, the Hawkettes then defeated No. 11 Waukee, 25-20, 25-14, in a consolation match. They are now 22-5 on the season.
Baethke said she wasn’t a fan of the format for the tournament.
“We won’t be going back there,” she said. “We played four matches in a row for pool play with no break. We had a little time to eat before we had to play the consolation game, but overall it was just really disappointing.”
Ankeny will return to CIML Conference play on Tuesday with a match at No. 15 Johnston. The Dragons are 1-2 in the league and 16-8 overall after posting a five-set win at Waukee on Thursday.
The Hawkettes currently own sole possession of second place in the conference at 3-0. They are a half-game behind No. 1 Waukee Northwest, which is 4-0 heading into Tuesday’s match against Southeast Polk.
The Wolves will then visit Ankeny on Thursday in what could be a showdown for the league lead.