It’s hard enough to beat the top-ranked Waukee Northwest volleyball team under normal circumstances.
But without one of its senior leaders, No. 5 Ankeny Centennial faced an even bigger uphill climb.
The Jaguars played without injured outside hitter Ellie Pollock and dropped a 25-18, 25-18, 25-9 decision on Tuesday at Northwest, which clinched at least a share of the CIML Conference championship.
“That’s a piece we’ve had in the lineup the whole entire year. She gives us good passing,” Centennial coach Jessica Rinehart said of Pollock, who ranks second on the team with 159 digs. “Without her it was hard, but I thought we had some really good moments. There were times we weren’t too far away, but then we’d just cause our own errors–which was frustrating that we couldn’t play cleaner.”
Pollock suffered an ankle injury during the Jaguars’ sweep at Southeast Polk on Thursday. She wore a boot on her right foot Tuesday while watching the match from the bench in street clothes.
“It’s definitely better than it was on Thursday right after it happened. The swelling has gone down almost completely, and I can walk on it for the most part,” said Pollock, who was relieved that it wasn’t a season-ending injury. “I was told by the trainer at Southeast Polk that there was a chance it could be fractured, and that was when it hit me. But I was like, ‘There’s no chance. I’m not letting that happen.'”
Fellow senior Bailey Snyder gave Pollock a long hug following Tuesday’s match.
“I miss her out there. We always hold hands in serve receive,” Snyder said. “I just feel like we need to bring more. That wasn’t our game, and I definitely feel like we have more to bring.”
Centennial got off to a slow start in the opening set. After Northwest took a 3-2 lead by forcing a sideout, setter Lyla Nelson then served the next six points–capped off by a pair of aces–as the Wolves extended the margin to 9-2.
A kill by Sidney Rogers finally ended the Northwest run, and the Jaguars gradually clawed their way back into the set. Rogers had another kill in a 6-1 run that cut the Wolves’ lead to 20-18.
However, Avery Cordes recorded a block to give the serve back to Northwest, which then scored the next four points to close out the set. Lydia Burrell and Cassidy Danburg had back-to-back kills for the Wolves before Cordes served an ace on set point.
The Jaguars got an ace of their own from Emma VandenHull to open the second set, but Northwest then answered with a 10-3 run that included an ace and a kill by Leah Janulewicz. Centennial battled back, though, and closed the gap to 13-11 on another ace by VandenHull.
The Wolves eventually closed out the set with a 5-2 run. Cordes had three kills during the run, while Logan Vogt had a kill and a block.
Snyder had all four of her kills and an ace in the second set, but it wasn’t enough.
“I think they are very beatable right now,” Snyder said of the Wolves. “We just need to play our game. Everyone has to be on, and we have to give it our all the whole game.”
Centennial jumped out to a 4-0 lead in Set 3 as Sophia Heither pounded a kill and Addison Wendt followed with an ace to complete the run. But Northwest then dominated the rest of the way, scoring 25 of the next 30 points to close out the match.
Vogt recorded back-to-back kills to give the Wolves a 5-4 lead and eventually smashed her 10th kill of the night for the final point.
Cordes led Northwest with 12 kills, while Janulewicz had 21 digs. London Taylor contributed four aces.
“The goal is still to peak in the next couple of weeks,” Rinehart said. “We’ve got a big tournament coming up this weekend that we’ve got to get prepared for. Back to work in the gym, and just keep growing and getting better and working on things.”
Heither led Centennial with five kills, Rogers chipped in four, and Madi VanBruggen added three. VandenHull dished out 10 assists while completing all seven of her serves.
Ella Whitver contributed two blocks. Kaelyn Rinehart racked up 10 digs, and Wendt added seven.
“It was good to get some young kids in there to get some experience for the future,” said coach Rinehart, whose team was outhit by a .316 to .033 margin. “We have such a senior-heavy roster that we didn’t do it initially, but as injuries and things have happened we’ve been able to get some people some more playing time to see if they could help us out in this last stretch of the season. It’s fun to have them out there.”
The win was the 11th in a row for Northwest, which improved to 7-0 in the conference and 21-2 overall. The Wolves can clinch their second straight outright league crown with a victory at No. 10 Valley next Tuesday.
Centennial’s records dropped to 4-3 and 16-6. The Jaguars also lost to Northwest in the Marj White Classic on Aug. 27 at Valley Stadium.
The Wolves have won the last eight meetings against Centennial. The Jaguars’ last victory over Northwest came in the finals of the Urbandale Invitational on Oct. 5, 2024.
Following that loss, the Wolves were swept at Dowling Catholic in a conference match 10 days later. They have since reeled off 15 consecutive CIML wins over the last two seasons.
Northwest is looking to capture its third Class 5A championship in four years. The Wolves are now 114-22 since the start of the 2023 season.
Meanwhile, Pollock is hoping to be back in Centennial’s lineup on Saturday. The Jaguars will compete in the East vs. West showdown at Xtream Arena in Coralville.
“I have physical therapy on Thursday to see how it’s doing,” she said.
Xtream Arena will also host the state tournament on Nov. 2-5. The Jaguars are hoping to get one more shot at Northwest after losing to the Wolves in each of the last three state tournaments.
“We’re going to come in hard this weekend, and we’re excited to have Ellie back,” Snyder said.
