Ankeny Christian returns to defend its 1A state volleyball title

CORALVILLE — From unknown rookie to favored defending champion, Ankeny Christian’s role has changed drastically in a year.

“This year, we came in with a target on our backs,” Carley Craighead said. “It’s different not being the underdog.”

The quest, though, remains the same.

Craighead collected 17 kills, and top-ranked Ankeny Christian maintained its Xtream Arena magic, handling No. 4 Conrad BCLUW in Class 1A semifinal at the state volleyball tournament Wednesday night.

Scores were 25-14, 25-20, 16-25 and 25-18.

“Last year was fun, but it’s fun coming back and proving ourselves to everybody again,” setter Kate Quick said.

Ankeny Christian (38-3) won its 28th consecutive match and returns to the 1A final at 7 p.m. Thursday.

There, the Eagles will face No. 3 Fort Madison Holy Trinity (33-10), which swept No. 2 Boyden-Hull on Wednesday.

A speedy start fueled Ankeny Christian, which sprinted through the opening game thanks to a .412 kill efficiency.

“We came out with a bunch of energy,” Craighead said. “We felt we were better than the other team.”

The Eagles handled things in Game 2, too, then appeared to be poised for a sweep when they led Game 3, 8-4.

Not so fast.

BCLUW (35-11) scored 21 of the last 29 points of the set to extend the match.

But the momentum shift was short-lived. Ankeny Christian assembled a 10-3 run midway through the fourth set to build a 21-13 lead, then coasted home from there.

“We needed to stop thinking. We just needed to play,” Quick said.

Macey Nehring added 12 kills for the Eagles. Quick notched 10 kills, 37 assists and 15 digs.

Olivia Peters led BCLUW with 16 kills. The Comets advanced to the semifinals in their first state-tournament appearance.

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