The Ankeny Centennial volleyball team has earned a rematch against its crosstown rival on the biggest stage.
The sixth-ranked Jaguars advanced to the state tournament for the 13th time in 14 years by posting a 25-12, 25-19, 25-18 victory over visiting Bettendorf in a Class 5A regional final on Tuesday.
Centennial (27-8) will now face No. 3 Ankeny (31-6) in the Class 5A quarterfinals on Monday at 2:35 p.m. on Court Two at Xtream Arena in Coralville.
“I think it’ll be so much fun (to play Ankeny),” said Centennial middle hitter Sidney Rogers. “I can’t wait!”
The Hawkettes won an earlier meeting at Centennial in four sets on Sept. 15, but the Jaguars have gone 14-3 since then. The emergence of eighth grader Elin Whitver as a viable second setter has turned Centennial into a different team.
Whitver, who didn’t play against Ankeny last month, dished out 20 assists on Tuesday. She also completed all 13 of her serves.
“It’s definitely been different (to play on the varsity), but everyone has been so nice and it just feels natural,” said Whitver, the daughter of former Iowa State football standout Jack Whitver. “I’m really excited to go to state. I’ve never done something like this, so I’m really excited for this new opportunity.”
Whitver and fellow setter Emma VandenHull spread the ball around to their teammates on Tuesday. Four different hitters finished with at least eight kills.
“She’s brought so much energy, and she’s so confident on the court,” Rogers said of Whitver. “I can always trust everything she says.”
Centennial senior Bailey Snyder said it didn’t take long for the Jaguars’ older players to develop a bond with their younger teammate.
“For being an eighth grader, it’s crazy what she can do. She’s literally insane,” Snyder said. “She works so hard every day, and I love having her on the court.”
Centennial coach Jessica Rinehart promoted Whitver to the varsity squad midway through the season. She has contributed 154 assists in 18 matches while completing 100-of-102 serves (98.0 percent).
“It actually wasn’t that tough to bring her in because she had set for our JV throughout the season,” Rinehart said. “An opportunity opened, and we tried her in there and she was great. What she brings is really consistent serving, defense and the setting piece. She’s made our court feel calm, but no one thinks of her as an eighth grader. It’s wild to say out loud, but I don’t think it crosses anyone’s mind that she’s an eighth grader out there doing this.”
Centennial got off to a fast start in the opening set. Rogers had four kills in a 10-1 run that gave the Jaguars a 15-3 lead.
“We prepared pretty well, and we’ve been working so hard in practice,” Rogers said.
Bettendorf (21-11) was looking to avenge an earlier loss at the Iowa City High tournament on Sept. 5, but the Bulldogs didn’t have an answer for Centennial’s balanced attack. Madi VanBruggen had five kills in the first set, Rogers chipped in four, and Meryl Sandholm and Snyder added three apiece.
“We’ve got six weapons, and you might as well use them,” Rinehart said. “That makes it a lot harder on the defense to set up the block when we have all our hitters going.”
Snyder eventually closed out the first set with a kill.
“We’ve been preparing all week at practice,” Snyder said. “We were super prepared to just come in and sweep them.”
Bettendorf used a 4-0 run in Set 2 to take its first lead of the night, 10-8. But after a timeout, Snyder pounded a kill to ignite a 5-0 run that was capped off by a pair of kills from Rogers.
The Bulldogs could get no closer than two points the rest of the set, which eventually ended on a kill by VanBruggen.
“We had confidence going in that our good volleyball should hopefully get us the (win),” Rinehart said. “This is a big game, and they’ve changed since we played them in September just like we’ve changed so we weren’t exactly sure what that would look like for a matchup. But I thought we handled it well.”
Bettendorf took an early 3-2 lead in Set 3 before Snyder recorded two consecutive kills to put the Jaguars ahead for good. Sophia Heither later had another kill to close out the match.
“We definitely have more that we can do, but we’re playing really great,” Whitver said.
VanBruggen led the way with 13 kills, while Rogers had 12 and hit .579 for the match. Snyder added nine kills, nine digs and two aces.
“It feels great to be going back to state,” Snyder said. “I’m super excited. We’ve been there many times before.”
Sandholm finished with eight kills. VandenHull racked up 24 assists.
Heither led the defense with three blocks, while Kaelyn Rinehart recorded 15 digs and Ellie Pollock contributed 10. Pollock also went a perfect 15-of-15 from behind the serving line.
Centennial advanced to the Class 5A championship match a year ago before falling to Waukee Northwest. Getting back to the finals, though, won’t be an easy task.
The Jaguars will play Ankeny in the quarterfinals for the second time in four years. Rinehart’s team outlasted the Hawkettes in a five-set thriller in 2023.
“You have to play well when you’re down there,” Rinehart said. “Everybody is going to be good. We’re just going to focus on bringing our best ball and practicing toward it. We’ve got to play well no matter who is in front of us.”
Snyder is looking forward to another all-Ankeny battle.
“We’d love another round with them,” she said. “We have much more to prove, and we have much more in the tank. We’re excited.”
