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Waukee Northwest topples No. 3 Ankeny in 5A state volleyball quarterfinals
No. 6 Wolves lost 3 times to the Hawks in the regular season, but move on with a sweep
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CORALVILLE — Waukee Northwest sophomore Logan Vogt said her team had never wanted to win a match so badly this entire season.
After falling three times to No. 3 Ankeny in the regular season, the No. 6 Wolves found themselves paired with the Hawks in a Class 5A state quarterfinal match on Monday afternoon at Xtream Arena.
“We just really, really wanted to beat them,” Vogt said. “We don't stop fighting and we keep pushing until the very end.”
Not only did the Wolves (27-9) push until the end, they finally pushed through, upsetting the Hawks 25-14, 25-20, 29-27 to earn a spot in Wednesday morning’s semifinals against No. 2 Ankeny Centennial, which also advanced in three sets over Cedar Falls.
After losing twice to Ankeny in an early-season tournament, the Wolves lost a tough five-set match near the end of the regular season. That match proved to Coach Jodi Vogt that her team, which includes daughters Logan and Avery, could beat the Hawks.
“In the five-set match we had at home, we had it won in the fifth set,” Coach Vogt said. “They came back and took it from us and I think that left a little bit of a sting in our girls and it all came out today. It was so fun to watch.”
Northwest set the stage with a convincing win in the first set. Against a tournament-tested team like Ankeny, Coach Vogt said that was so important for her team's confidence.
Waukee Northwest is the defending 5A champion, but only four letterwinners from that team returned and none are seniors.
“When you have a full roster who has never been here before and they step out on that court and do everything they do in practice, it was amazing and carried on throughout the match,” she said.
“Honestly, they just love to be around each other. They just love to play the game and you can tell that when they are out on the court. They just get better every time they step on the court. They love to play and they are eager for every practice.”
After holding on to win the second set, the final set went back and forth with both teams having opportunities to close it out before Piper Ladwig put down the winner.
“We just kept getting excited in that last set, then we had to keep regrouping,” Logan Vogt said. “We kept our hopes up and never gave up until it was over.”
Logan Vogt led the winners with 15 kills and three blocks. Ladwig had nine kills. Reagan Hanfelt and Kamryn Scheib had nine kills apiece for Ankeny, which retires at 36-5.
Northwest will be looking for the Ankeny sweep when it meets Centennial on Wednesday. Centennial holds a 2-1 edge over the Wolves this season,
“It's always a dogfight with Centennial,” Coach Vogt said. “It's always fun to play against them.”
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