Ankeny Centennial Early Bird Invite: Taking a Closer Look at Pool C

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rankings are out, billboard material has been provided.  The Ankeny Centennial Early Bird has nine ranked teams out of the 16 with the rest being no slouch for one of the biggest high powered tournaments in the state this weekend.  Pool C is our focus today which will feature the top two teams ranked in Class 5A in Cedar Falls and West Des Moines Dowling along with Des Moines Lincoln and Clinton. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Cedar Falls</strong> is returning with some high powered athletes from a team that went undefeated in the regular season in 2018, finishing state runner-up to Ankeny Centennial.  <strong>Alayna Yates (Dayton), Kacia Brown (Mississippi State), and Emerson Green (UNI - Basketball)</strong> are all back along with depth in the backrow with libero, <strong>Kirsten Graves and Emmy Wedgbury</strong>.  The Tigers will be fueled by last seasons state final loss, but will have to replace the likes of Dara Hulstein, Emily Clapp, and Ashley Schildroth who were key contributors in 2018. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dowling advanced to the state tournament before being defeated by Centennial in the quarterfinals.  The Maroons return five athletes who had over 100 kills in 2018, led by <strong>Anna Godfredson</strong> with over 200.  St. Cloud State recruit, <strong>Allena Shimon and Sophia Painovich</strong> return as setters along with <strong>Anna Flynn</strong> at libero who had over 300 digs last season.  With experience and balance at all positions, this will be a team that will be tough to beat throughout the whole season. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lincoln will return their top kill leader in Bella Sanders who will be one of the top athletes on the team.  They also return their top two setters in <strong>Sophie Page and Emilia Gonzalez</strong> and top libero <strong>Grace Twelmeyer</strong> who had nearly 400 digs in 2018.  </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Clinton will be led by setter <strong>Brooke Mulholland</strong> who is one of the top all around players in the Class of 2020.  Mulholland had 833 assists, 216 digs, and 63 kills. With some big losses to graduation, the River Queens will look to reload. <strong> Bailey Wing</strong> and <strong>Kelly Clark</strong> are the top returning attackers. This team will be able to sneak up on some opponents with their athleticism and youthful roster. </span></p> <p><strong>So What Happens? </strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This will come down to Cedar Falls and Dowling, who will both advance to the championship bracket in the afternoon by finishing in the top two of the pool.  I have to give the nod to Cedar Falls in this first meeting with their firepower they have in the front row. If they can get into system, getting their middles involved as well as Brown they will be tough for anyone to stop.  </span></p> <ol> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Cedar Falls</span></li> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dowling</span></li> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Clinton </span></li> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Des Moines Lincoln </span></li> </ol>