(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
The Ankeny volleyball team never envisioned a 2026 season that wouldn’t end on the courts at Xtream Arena.
That officially came to fruition on Tuesday and sets up a big crosstown rivalry matchup in Coralville.
Third-ranked Ankeny used a dominant start to sweep No. 13 Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 25-7, 25-19, 25-23, in a Class 5A regional final, sending the Hawkettes to the state tournament for the ninth consecutive year.
Ankeny (31-6) will now face No. 6 Ankeny Centennial (27-8) in the Class 5A quarterfinals on Monday at 2:35 p.m. on Court Two.
“(The state tournament) has always been the end goal,” said junior outside hitter Hailey Wiederin. “We’ve always wanted (to get back to Coralville), and we’ve been ready to get after it.”
“We knew we’d be back,” added senior outside hitter Marlee Ellison.
The Hawkettes never lacked confidence in their pursuit of another state tournament berth, but they knew they’d need to knock off a respected and familiar opponent on Tuesday.
The Cougars (19-16) previously were swept by Ankeny in regional finals in both 2019 and 2025. The Hawkettes went on to reach the semifinals in both of those seasons.
“The girls are familiar with (Kennedy) even though we didn’t see them in the regular season,” said Ankeny coach Liz Baethke, who’s making her fourth straight state tournament appearance since taking over the program in 2023. “We ended their season last year in the regional final and then we saw them during the summer, and they gave us all we could handle.”
Tuesday’s match followed a similar script: a dominant first-set victory to fuel the eventual sweep.
Ankeny opened up the match with a 4-0 run behind a kill from Wiederin, a block from Wiederin and senior Quinn Roush, a hitting error from the Cougars, and an ace from junior Elle Isaacson.
A service error broke up the initial run, but the Hawkettes responded by rattling off 10 unanswered points before a hitting error on Ankeny’s end gave the serve back to the Cougars.
“We brought in a ton of energy,” Ellison said. “We knew they were going to be very energetic, but our communication was on point, we stuck to our goals and got it done.”
The Cougars didn’t score their first point without the aid of an Ankeny miscue until the Hawkettes already led, 17-2, late in the set. Kennedy senior Hayden Scott earned her team’s first kill of the night to make it 17-3.
After that point, the Hawkettes used an 8-4 run to close out the set. Ellison had three kills and an ace during the run, capped off by back-to-back kills to finish it off.
“We’ve been feeling it all day, and we’ve been preparing all season for this moment,” Wiederin said. “We just wanted to go out there and give it all that we’ve got.”
Much like the previous two regional finals against Kennedy, Ankeny got a much closer battle once the Cougars were able to get untracked.
Two aces and a kill from Isaacson, a kill from Roush, and a block from Roush and Ellison turned a 3-1 Ankeny deficit into a 6-3 lead to open the second set. The Hawkettes never trailed for the rest of the set.
Part of Ankeny’s success early on came from its serving.
Sophomore setter Kellen Roush got an ace to fall to give the Hawkettes a 15-12 lead in the second set. It was the team’s ninth ace within its first 40 recorded points of the night.
“The serving was amazing, and our first-ball sideouts and our kill percentage were astronomical,” said Baethke, whose team hit .400 in the win. “We’re very pleased. We came out confident and fearless, and these kids just get tougher every day.”
Ankeny got kills from Wiederin, Isaacson, and Quinn and Kellen Roush to help close out the second set, which then ended on a kill by Quinn that was assisted by Kellen.
The Hawkettes got their closest fight of the night with Kennedy’s season on the line in the third set.
The Cougars were able to tie things up at 5-5 early on, and they later overcame a four-point deficit with a 7-1 run to take a 19-17 lead late in the set.
Not only was Kellen Roush active with her duties setting and serving, but she tallied a pair of kills on consecutive swings to tie it back up at 19-19 and give the Hawkettes some momentum.
“I think (Kellen) has been waiting for this opportunity,” Baethke said. “She’s been watching her sisters and her brother in football. It’s her turn now, and she gets to start her career with (Quinn) finishing her (career).”
From there, the Hawkettes turned to their top three kill leaders to bring it home.
Isaacson gave them a 20-19 edge, Wiederin hammered back-to-back kills to make it 23-21, and Ellison followed with another kill to put them on set point.
“We wanted (to close out the third set) so bad, and we knew we just had to be more disciplined,” Ellison said. “We sure did at the end.”
After the Cougars pulled within 24-23, Kellen Roush turned back to Wiederin to deliver the final kill–punching Ankeny’s ticket to the state tournament.
“I just wanted to (close) the game out,” Wiederin said. “I just wanted to be done and just get on with it.”
Wiederin led the Hawkettes with 13 kills and three blocks, while Ellison contributed 11 kills. They both completed 10-of-11 serves.
Isaacson racked up six kills, nine digs and a team-high three aces. Senior middle hitter Raquel Risk added five kills, while senior libero Katelyn Mescher had a team-high 12 digs and added two aces.
The Roush sisters both had five kills while posting a .625 hitting percentage. Quinn also recorded three blocks, while Kellen dished out 37 assists and also had a pair of aces.
Ankeny will now play its crosstown rival in the quarterfinals for the second time in four years. Centennial defeated the Hawkettes in five sets in the 2023 tournament.
The Jaguars advanced to state with a sweep over Bettendorf. They’ll be looking to avenge a four-set loss to Ankeny on Sept. 15 at Centennial.
“Once you get to state, all the rankings are out the window and you have to win the day,” Baethke said. “You match up how you match up, you find ways, you bring the energy and (the girls) are no strangers to being in Iowa City and being on those courts.
“I definitely think they’re ready to make a deep run,” she added.
