The Ankeny volleyball team closed out the regular season on Tuesday with another dominant victory that could be a sign of bigger things on the horizon.
The third-ranked Hawkettes celebrated their Senior Night with a 25-10, 25-11, 25-13 victory over visiting Urbandale. It was the sixth straight win for coach Liz Baethke’s squad, which hit .430 on the night while wrapping up a second-place finish in the CIML Conference.
“I think we came in and executed,” said Baethke, whose team finished 7-1 in the league and improved to 29-6 overall. “I wanted this to be a special night for the seniors, but additionally this was our last contest before we go into the postseason. So I wanted everybody to sort of stay in a rhythm. But everybody came tonight and played with great energy and great overall court play as well.”
The loss dropped Urbandale’s records to 0-7 and 6-26. The J-Hawks kept it close for awhile in Set 3, when there were five ties and three lead changes before Raquel Risk pounded a kill to put Ankeny ahead for good, 6-5.
The Hawkettes later closed out the match with a 7-0 run, getting a pair of kills from Elle Isaacson and two more from Risk to finish it off.
“I think we definitely focused on our team dynamic,” said Risk, one of the team’s seven seniors. “Coming in as a team all together, we were making sure we had fun but also got (the job) done.”
Urbandale opened the match with an ace and then, after a kill by Isaacson, got a huge block on a spike by Hailey Wiederin to take a 2-1 lead. But the J-Hawks never led again until early in the third set.
Wiederin answered with a massive kill to tie it at 2-2, forcing a sideout that gave the serve back to Ankeny. Katelyn Mescher then served the next seven points as the Hawkettes built a 9-2 advantage, recording the first of her three aces during that stretch.
Ankeny eventually got back-to-back kills from Risk and Isaacson to close out the set.
In Set 2, the Hawkettes led by just 11-9 before pulling away. They then scored 14 of the next 16 points to finish off the set.
Senior Quinn Roush contributed four kills and a block during that run.
“I feel like we played pretty well,” said Roush. “We started off a little slow in the first couple of sets, but I feel like we picked it up a lot at the end.”
Nobody was more efficient than Ankeny senior Marlee Ellison, who pounded a team-high 17 kills while posting a .607 hitting percentage. She also recorded nine digs to reach the 500-dig career mark.
Wiederin had nine kills and a team-high four blocks, while Isaacson also had nine kills. Risk and Roush each added seven kills and three blocks.
Kellen Roush dished out 30 assists, and Macie Kohl added 14 more. Jenna Harbour and Mescher each had nine digs.
Isaacson completed all 12 of her serves for Ankeny, which connected on 67-of-73 attempts overall (91.8 percent). Mescher went 15-of-16 from behind the line.
Baethke was able to rotate in several reserves throughout the match
“Just keeping everyone healthy has been the key,” she said. “Knock on wood, but we want to continue that and it’s just been sort of pacing ourselves. I’ve been really thrilled with the pace of the way things have gone, getting some other players experiences that they wouldn’t have had in the past. It’s all gone really smooth.”
Ankeny will now prepare for the start of postseason play. The Hawkettes will host Cedar Rapids Jefferson (9-23) or Des Moines East (5-21) in a Class 5A Region 3 semifinal on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m.
No. 14 Cedar Rapids Kennedy (18-15) will host North Scott (14-15) in the other regional semifinal.
“We haven’t seen East or Jeff(erson), but we have seen Kennedy a few times,” Baethke said.
Ankeny is seeking a ninth consecutive trip to the state tournament. The Hawkettes advanced to the semifinals last year for the first time since 2021 before falling to eventual champion Waukee Northwest.
“I think we have so much more potential that we can show off at state,” Risk said. “I think we have all the power, all the tools, and everything we need to just end it off with a bang.”
