Ankeny Christian’s state-volleyball debut is a rousing success

CORALVILLE — Make yourself acquainted with the Ankeny Christian Eagles. They intend to be around for a while.

Young, fresh and new at the state volleyball tournament, the seventh-ranked Eagles enjoyed a dandy debut Tuesday night, sweeping No. 8 Don Bosco in a Class 1A quarterfinal, 25-16, 25-23, 25-14, at Xtream Arena.

“One hundred percent, we thought before the season that we would be here,” said Carley Craighead, one of five sophomores in the starting lineup. “The love we have for each other, the confidence we have in each other, it’s incredible.”

Craighead counted 13 kills, Katie Quick accumulated 25 assists and the Eagles (37-3) won their 16th straight match.

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They’ll face No. 1 Springville (38-3) in a semifinal at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The Orioles swept Oakland Riverside in their match Tuesday.

“It’s so crazy, we’ve never been to the state tournament before,” said setter Katie Quick, another sophomore who already has more than 1,300 career assists. “We love being here. We go into every match with total confidence.

“We can do anything.”

If there was a crossroads in this match, it came fairly early in the second set. With the set tied 9-9, the Eagles went on a 5-2 surge and held a slim lead the rest of the way.

At 24-23, Craighead’s kill put Ankeny Christian in front, two sets to none.

The victory, aided by 13 aces, was the 100th for fourth-year coach Michele Quick.

Don Bosco (28-13) committed 20 attack errors, against 21 kills.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com