Ankeny Centennial sweeps Bettendorf for first title

CEDAR RAPIDS – Ankeny Centennial is only in its second year as a school, and only its second year playing high school sports.

But the last two seasons at the state volleyball tournament, the Jaguars played like they've been around forever, culminating in a sweep of No. 1 Bettendorf, 29-27, 25-22, 25-21, that erased a 47-match win streak for the Bulldogs and stopped their bid for three straight titles.

'We were here last year, and they got a feel for it,” said Coach Jessica Rinehart, also in just her second year as a head coach. 'We lost to Bettendorf in the semifinals, and we didn't want that to happen again.

'With this group, getting a state championship in two years was (easily) possible.”

Centennial rode nine straight set wins from their quarterfinal matchup against Iowa City High, the semifinal against Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln, through the title round against Bettendorf.

It didn't much matter who they faced, but Rinehart admitted having the championship come against the team that knocked them out of their first tournament a year ago was a bit of poetic justice.

'Yeah, it feels good,” Rinehart said. 'We didn't know if we were going to play Bettendorf or Johnston in the finals, and we'd seen Johnston three times already. So it felt good to have new faces on the other side of the net. Being the fact we can avenge a loss probably feels even better.”

The match looked like it was headed for five sets in the opening stanza, as the teams were tied 14 times and traded the lead eight times. It went to four extra points, with the Jaguars finally closing it out, 29-27.

A set like that can be emotionally draining for both the winning and losing side, and Rinehart said the team's mental strength was what carried them.

'I'm actually glad that game happened, because in the end result, it helped us get there,” Rinehart said. 'They were big points, those last for points of that set. But we talked about it going in, we knew mental toughness was going to be one of the key factors in winning. Their responses, even yesterday when we played, made the difference in those close points. I thought they handled that part great.”

Even though it was a sweep, both Rinehart and her players were quick to acknowledge nothing came easy. But where Centennial made its biggest gains was in getting Bettendorf on its heels defensively.

Rinehart said the gameplan was to 'go in swinging,” and putting pressure on the Bulldogs – something they've not been accustomed to in a long time – would mean 'maybe they wouldn't know how to respond.”

That shift allowed players like Class 5A All-Tournament team captain Jaali Winters, Olivia Coe and Tasha Vipond to flourish offensively. Winters had a match-high 15 kills, Coe 12 and Vipond 9. Winters also went 15 of 15 on serves and had a match-high 16 digs.

Bulldogs' Coach Diane Lichtenberg acknowledged her team was scrambling a bit, and couldn't ever quite get back to what led them to all those wins in a row.

'They took us out of system a lot with their blocking,” Lichtenberg said. 'I thought we covered well, we were just on the defense a lot today. We needed to get on the offense a little more. I thought that was certainly one of the things that hurt us.

'We never gave up. It was not an easy win for Ankeny Centennial. It's just unfortunate.”

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