(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
The vibes were already high for the Ankeny Centennial volleyball team heading into Tuesday’s regular-season finale against 10th-ranked Johnston.
No. 6 Centennial was already feeling good after a big weekend in Cedar Rapids, and the excitement grew even more for another win on Senior Night to lead the Jaguars into the postseason.
Those vibes lifted Centennial to a 25-14, 25-8, 25-15 victory over the Dragons on its home court.
“Everyone was so excited (for Senior Night), and the vibes were so high in the locker room and all day at school,” said senior middle Sophia Heither. “Everybody was just so excited to go get this win, and I think it really translated (in the game). We just handled every point and played it the way we wanted to play.”
Centennial got off to a pair of hot starts that saw the Jaguars take consecutive 8-1 leads that forced early timeouts from Johnston in the first and second sets.
Senior Ellie Pollock, Heither and freshman kill leader Madi VanBruggen combined for nine kills to quickly surge the Jaguars out to an 11-1 lead to open up the match.
The Dragons could get no closer than seven points the rest of the way before Centennial rattled off an 8-4 run to close out the set.
“We were like a well-oiled machine,” said Centennial coach Jessica Rinehart. “Our defense and our block was really in sync, I thought we just executed every step of the way, and everybody really did their job.”
A combination of kills from VanBruggen, Heither and seniors Bailey Snyder and Sidney Rogers got Centennial right back out to another 8-1 lead to open up the second set.
The Dragons would only record seven more points for the rest of the set.
Coming out of the early Johnston timeout, Centennial extended its margin with Rogers and Snyder teaming up for a block to give the Jaguars a 12-1 lead.
Centennial later reeled off five straight points to close out the set. Heither and senior Teagan Jackson started the run with back-to-back kills, then Rogers and senior Olivia Ramsay ended the set with a block.
“Having an early lead you play more comfortably the whole way, and we got early leads off the first or second server,” Rinehart said. “It was fun getting those early leads and kind of sit back, relax a bit and just play good ball.”
Johnston held its first lead of the night by scoring the initial point of the third set, and the Dragons then battled Centennial to a 7-7 tie.
The Jaguars followed with a 12-3 run to build a commanding 19-10 advantage.
Centennial closed it out in Senior Night fashion with Rogers, Snyder, Jackson, Ramsay and Heither all tallying one kill among the Jaguars’ final six points.
“It was so awesome, and I’m so glad we were able to get everybody in because I know everyone was having so much fun out there tonight,” Heither said. “Everyone was playing for not only themselves, but for all the seniors on our team.”
The win allowed Centennial to wrap up a fourth-place finish in the CIML Conference. The Jaguars finished 5-3 in the league and improved to 25-8 overall, while Johnston’s records dropped to 3-4 and 16-13.
Centennial outhit the Dragons by a .366 to .011 margin and had nine different players record at least one kill. VanBruggen led the way with a 11 kills while the senior class got seven kills from Heither, six from Snyder, five from Rogers, four from Jackson and Pollock, two from Kenlie Erickson and one from Ramsay. Junior Meryl Sandholm also tallied one kill.
Heither posted a team-high seven blocks, while junior Kaelyn Rinehart recorded a team-high 15 digs.
“I’m so happy that we got all of our seniors in and got them some playing time,” Rinehart said. “This really has been a full team approach the whole season, so it was fun to have a match where we could get everybody playing time and everybody playing well.”
Centennial kept its momentum going after defending its title on Saturday in the Westside Invitational at Cedar Rapids Jefferson, where the Jaguars avenged an earlier loss to No. 4 Dowling Catholic in the finals.
“That tourney win was huge for us, and that for sure got everybody’s confidence through the roof,” Heither said. “Everyone was ready to go get (the win) tonight. It was like a switch flip for us and we were like, ‘Oh we got this.’”
Centennial has been no stranger to postseason runs, and the Jaguars know to not overlook region play in preparation for a return to the Class 5A state tournament.
The Jaguars are the top seed in the Region 6 bracket and will host either Council Bluffs Lincoln (15-15) or Council Bluffs Jefferson (0-26) in a regional semifinal on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. No. 11 Bettendorf (19-10) will host Muscatine (16-16) in the other semifinal in a matchup of two teams that Centennial has already defeated.
“We’re not going to take any game lightly,” Heither said. “We’re going to try to play every point like we want to play and put everything out there on the court for each other especially since we have such a big senior class. We’re just super excited to get the postseason started.”
