The Ankeny Centennial volleyball team has made some tremendous strides over the last several weeks.
Its crosstown rival proved on Monday, though, that it has improved just as much.
Third-ranked Ankeny held off a valiant effort by No. 6 Centennial to post a 25-21, 23-25, 25-16, 27-25 victory in the quarterfinals of the Class 5A state tournament at Xtream Arena in Coralville.
“I think we all knew that it was going to be a battle so we’ve been working on some different options,” said Ankeny coach Liz Baethke. “You probably saw that some of those worked out and some of them didn’t, but I’m just excited to still be alive.”
Ankeny (32-6) extended its winning streak to nine matches by defeating Centennial for the second time this season. The Jaguars finished with a 27-9 record.
“I’m proud of the girls,” said Centennial coach Jessica Rinehart, whose squad was looking to avenge a four-set loss to the Hawkettes on Sept. 15. “They fought to the finish, and they fought hard. We played Ankeny a lot better than we did the first time.”
The two teams met in the quarterfinals for the third time in seven years. Ankeny won a four-set match in 2020 and went on to capture the title; Centennial won a five-set thriller in 2023.
Monday’s showdown almost went to a decisive fifth set again. The Jaguars built a 19-14 lead in Set 4 and eventually had a pair of set points, but were unable to close it out.
A kill by Ankeny’s Marlee Ellison, the only current member of either squad who played in the 2023 matchup, tied the score at 25-25. The Hawkettes took the lead on an illegal hit by Centennial, then sealed the win when Elle Isaacson and Raquel Risk teamed up to block a spike attempt by Meryl Sandholm.
“It feels great,” said Isaacson. “That fourth set was full of adrenaline, and Centennial is our archrival so it was a super close game. It was super fun to play in that atmosphere.”
Hailey Wiederin had 24 kills and 17 digs to lead Ankeny, which outhit the Jaguars by a .338 to .234 margin. Kellen Roush dished out 49 assists.
“It feels awesome,” said Wiederin. “State is such an amazing environment, and I’m just really grateful that we’re able to compete here because a lot of teams don’t get the opportunity to do that.”
Ankeny advanced to the semifinals for the second straight year. The Hawkettes outlasted Dowling Catholic in five sets in last year’s quarterfinals.
Isaacson was happy that history didn’t repeat itself on Monday.
“We don’t use any subs, so there’s only seven of us who (usually) play,” said Isaacson, who recorded 15 kills while completing all 19 of her serves. “We were already exhausted enough. So we were like, ‘We’re not going to five (sets). We’re going to finish this in four.'”
Madi VanBruggen, a freshman, led Centennial with 17 kills. Ellie Pollock and Sandholm each contributed 10.
“I’m so proud of our team,” said Pollock, who also had 14 digs. “We got those little bounces in the middle of the game, and at the end things didn’t quite go our way. But everyone stayed together, and we fought through the whole thing as a team.”
Ankeny broke away from an 18-18 tie to win the opening set, using a 7-3 run to close it out. Risk had a kill to put the Hawkettes ahead for good.
Centennial fought off one set point when VanBruggen smashed a kill to end a long rally. However, Ankeny clinched the set when the Jaguars committed one of their 11 serving errors.
“Our emotions were a little high today at times,” Rinehart said. “I wish we could have settled in a little more.”
In Set 2, Ankeny got off to a fast start and took a 12-5 lead on a kill by Isaacson. But the Jaguars answered with a 7-0 run that included a pair of kills from both Pollock and Sandholm.
“The seniors on the court just kind of looked at each other and realized we didn’t want to be done this early,” Pollock said. “We fought together to come back and eventually win that one.”
Pollock had another kill to put her team ahead for good, 14-13. Fellow senior Sophia Heither later had a kill to close out the set, tying the match.
“In practice we’ve been working on every little piece and every little part,” VanBruggen said. “We assumed that Ankeny would also do that, so we came out with a great mindset and really just put it all out on the court.”
Ankeny never trailed in Set 3, getting kills from Isaacson and Wiederin to take the early lead. The Hawkettes hit .571 in the set with 21 kills and just one hitting error.
“We started looking at different shots and seeing what was open,” said Isaacson, who had six of her kills in the third set. “They’ve got a lot of high hands–they’re a really good defensive team. So hitting straight down wasn’t going to work. Just finding ways to get around their block was really helping us, and it was successful.”
Wiederin pounded nine of her kills in Set 3, including one that extended Ankeny’s lead to 23-14. A kill by Ellison shortly thereafter closed out the set.
“I just give it all to my teammates,” Wiederin said. “I’m just grateful that they’re able to put me in the position that they do so I can get there and I can get all those kills because I wouldn’t be there without them.”
There were five ties and two lead changes in Set 4. Centennial took a 14-9 lead before Wiederin had a pair of kills to spark an Ankeny rally.
“I’ve been on the other side (of the net) just trying to be a decoy, not playing defense or anything,” Baethke said of Wiederin’s spikes in practice. “I don’t even see it when (the ball) hits the floor.”
Wiederin later had three kills in a span of four points to tie the score at 23-23.
“Her hits go over the block,” Pollock said. “She likes that deep cross corner, but the second you try to read it and shift over that way, she goes over the block and cuts it down the line. Most of them are undiggable.”
Kills by VanBruggen and Sandholm gave the Jaguars two chances to close out the set, but they were unable to extend the match.
“We did have hope, and we didn’t lose it,” VanBruggen said. “It didn’t go our way, but that’s ok. We can learn from it.”
Ellison finished with nine kills for Ankeny, while Risk hit .462 with seven kills and four blocks. Quinn Roush added six kills.
Libero Katelyn Mescher racked up 15 digs. Kellen Roush added 14 digs and three blocks.
“They’re a really nice squad,” Rinehart said of the Hawkettes. “Hailey is a heavy hitter, and they played well. it was a good match. It was back and forth. Every game was just a couple points. I wish we could have pushed it to five–I thought for sure we were–but we just came up a little short.”
Bailey Snyder had eight kills for the Jaguars. Emma VandenHull dished out 24 assists, while Elin Whitver added 21 and also had 11 digs.
“They have a really good front row,” Isaacson said. “They’re rightsides are super good and hard to block.”
Centennial’s Kaelyn Rinehart finished with 13 digs and two aces. Sidney Rogers recorded four blocks.
While Ankeny used only eight players, the Jaguars rotated in 13 different girls.
“We’ve prepared people all season long, and we’ve had to use different players,” coach Rinehart said. “We tried to see what would happen if we did this, and sometimes it would work out and sometimes we’d go back to what we were doing before. It was a team where everybody contributed, and it was fun to get so many kids out there today.”
Some of them, like VanBruggen, were playing in the tournament for the first time.
“It was so fun, just being with my teammates,” she said. “It’s been a joy. Just being out there with them and playing our hardest and really battling was very fun.”
Ankeny will now face No. 2 Dallas Center-Grimes (34-2) in Wednesday’s semifinals at 10:35 a.m. on Court Two. The Mustangs advanced with a four-set win over No. 7 Cedar Falls.
“We’ve seen them around in the summer,” Baethke said. “I’m excited to finally have a matchup with them. I think we’re really looking forward to how that is going to work out.”
This is Dallas Center-Grimes’ first season competing in Class 5A. The Mustangs are led by senior setter Gwen Farley, a Valparaiso recruit who has surpassed 3,500 career assists and 1,000 digs in four seasons as a starter.
“We’ve scouted them a little bit,” Wiederin said. “They have a good defense, and they’re scrappy. I’m just excited to see them and excited to see what they have and compete.”
Junior libero Anna Jackson, a Drake recruit, has recorded more than 1,000 career digs.
“I play club with (Jackson), and I’ve been coached by their coach (Meg Jackson),” Isaacson said. “They’re a really good team and we haven’t played them this year, so I’m excited to see how it goes.”
The winner will play No. 1 Waukee Northwest (30-2) or No. 5 Iowa City West (29-6) in Thursday’s championship match at 10 a.m.
