Centennial answers, in a big way

CEDAR RAPIDS - Craig Pitcher knows what can happen when an elite team gets clicking.

'When a team like that gets on a roll, sometimes you're just at their mercy,” he said.

And Ankeny Centennial was merciless.

After spotting Iowa City High the first set, second-rated Centennial raced through the next three and defeated the No. 8 Little Hawks, 24-26, 25-13, 25-10, 25-11, in a Class 5A quarterfinal at the state volleyball tournament Tuesday morning at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'We lost the first one, and nobody was pouting,” said Centennial senior Jaali Winters. 'Everybody was smiling and ready to go for the next one.”

The next three.

Centennial (42-3) will face No. 7 Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln in a semifinal at 10 a.m. Thursday. The Lynx (40-13) upset No. 3 West Des Moines Dowling in five sets Tuesday.

City High retired at 24-11.

'At the beginning of the season, nobody had any expectations for us,” said senior Rylee Price. 'We really came a long way.”

The Little Hawks rallied from a 24-21 deficit to take the first set, scoring the final five points.

A free-ball kill by Jamie Young, then a kill by Kendra Cave and a block by Price evened the set. Then a pair of Centennial mistakes put City over the top.

The Jaguars shook it off.

'They're good,” said Pitcher, the Little Hawks' coach. 'Jaali started going off. (Tasha Vipond) started going off. It just carried over and over.

'The energy we spent in the first set, I think we thought, ‘Oh, gosh, we've got to keep that up.' It was hard to maintain.”

None of the last three sets were close. Cantennial led them all wire to wire.

The Jaguars enjoyed a 51-26 advantage in kills, including 40-14 in the final three sets. Winters counted 16 kills, Lauren Rieck 11. McKenna Pierson collected 41 assists.

Kendra Cave paced City High with nine kills. Rylee Price added seven.

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