Ankeny Centennial recovers, drops Iowa City West

CEDAR RAPIDS — Jessica Rinehart trusts her team.

So when an eight-point lead evaporated and all signs pointed toward an anything-can-happen Game 5, her message was simple:

Play on.

Second-ranked Ankeny Centenial stabilized, recovered, and vanquished No. 8 Iowa City West, 24-26, 25-16, 25-14, 25-23, in a Class 5A quarterfinal at the state volleyball tournament Tuesday afternoon at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'I decided just to let them play through it,' Rinehart said. 'There wasn't anything we needed to stop or change. We just needed to get under control and execute.'

The two-time defending 5A champion, Centennial (33-3) will face No. 3 West Des Moines Valley (41-4) in a semifinal at 10 a.m. Thursday.

5A quarterfinals: Lockin, Kubin send Valley past Hempstead

Centennial lost most of last year's lineup due to graduation, and sophomore outside Ari Winters has been limited this season after undergoing surgery that extended her right arm in the offseason.

But here the Jaguars are again.

'Our young hitters have come along so well,' Centennial libero Kylee Macke said, referring to sophomore Kenna Sauer (20 kills) and freshman Devyn Robinson (nine blocks). 'We have full faith in them.'

West (23-15) bowed out in the first round for the third consecutive season.

'We fought so hard,' said Emma Norris, who knocked down seven of her team-high 17 kills in the opening set. 'We were going to go all out, win or lose as a team. We didn't give up.'

They sure could have, facing an 8-0 deficit in the fourth set. But a seven-point surge gave them an 18-16 lead. Through that whole run, Rinehart sat on her timeouts.

'She lets us play through the rough patches,' Macke said.

Down 23-21, the Jaguars scored the final four points to close it out.

West led most of the first set, by as many as six points. Centennial took leads of 23-22 and 24-23, then West went up 25-24 on Norris' kill and won the set on Chandler Haight's ace.

'We always talk about eliminating the errors, and that's what we did in the first set,' West's Emily Halverson said.

Centennial changed its blocking scheme, shadowed Norris and won the next two sets decisively.

Halverson added 12 blocks for the Women of Troy. Maddie Fay posted 41 assists.

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