Pool Previews of State Powers Colliding at Ankeny Centennial

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Iowa high school volleyball has begun!&nbsp; School is in session, that means it's one of the hottest weeks of the summer.&nbsp; This Saturday marks the opening of the tournament season.&nbsp; Those early morning bus rides.&nbsp; This upcoming Saturday, Ankeny Centennial will be hosting quite the group of powerhouse programs.&nbsp; 14 of the 16 Teams will come into this tournament ranked with top ranked in 5A, Waukee Northwest and number on in 2A Dike-New Hartford in attendance. Let's take a look at the pool breakdown.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":452309,"width":386,"height":258,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/08/DSC07834.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-452309" style="width:386px;height:258px" width="386" height="258" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Waukee NW</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pool A </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5A - #5 Cedar Falls</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5A - #1 Waukee NW</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>4A - #6 Nevada</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5A - #8 Ankeny </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://x.com/PrepDigChris/status/1587138231371538437?s=20","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/PrepDigChris/status/1587138231371538437?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Take your pick out of this group on&nbsp; who would advance to gold.&nbsp; Total toss up.&nbsp; Cedar Falls will be led by two senior outsides in Brynn Paup and Carley Strelow along with [player_tooltip player_id='215408' first='Grace' last='Hannam'] in the middle.&nbsp; A sophomore on the rise for the Tigers is setter [player_tooltip player_id='261058' first='Brynn' last='Bakula'].&nbsp; Waukee NW returns almost everyone from their state tournament team last year.&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='251675' first='Kamryn' last='Vogt'], [player_tooltip player_id='251674' first='Chloe' last='Jones'], [player_tooltip player_id='432373' first='Katrina' last='Pelds'], [player_tooltip player_id='432374' first='Chloee' last='Hayes'] all had over 200 kills last year and are back for more.&nbsp; Nevada has already kicked off their season with wins over Carroll Kuemper and Winterset with a lost to Dike-New Hartford.&nbsp; They will return a strong core of attackers in Emma Strottman, [player_tooltip player_id='215746' first='Mya' last='Spykerman'], Isabelle Nelson, and incoming sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='500120' first='Rachel' last='Borwick'].&nbsp; Ankeny has a ton of firepower in their lineup with multiple D1 commits.&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='168190' first='Tanith' last='Roush'] (North Dakota State), Baleigh Carlson (Auburn), [player_tooltip player_id='215465' first='Reagan' last='Hanfelt'] (Iowa State), and [player_tooltip player_id='168153' first='Aowyn' last='Schrader'] (Middle Tennessee State).&nbsp; Another attacker to keep on tabs in [player_tooltip player_id='204533' first='Kamryn' last='Scheib'] who had 10 kills in their season opening loss to #2 Dowling.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pool B </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2A - #1 Dike-New Hartford</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5A - #10 Pleasant Valley</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5A - #4 WDM Valley </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5A - #13 Sioux City North </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://x.com/PrepDigChris/status/1587137515059875840?s=20","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/PrepDigChris/status/1587137515059875840?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Everyone is going to be chasing Dike-New Hartford in all classes.&nbsp; Will be tough to argue against this squad who will be on a revenge tour after falling short in the Class 2A state title match.&nbsp; This is also the swan song for a very decorated senior class that features [player_tooltip player_id='168149' first='Payton' last='Petersen'] (Louisville), [player_tooltip player_id='168150' first='Jadyn' last='Petersen'] (UNI), and [player_tooltip player_id='251662' first='Maryn' last='Bixby'] (UNI).&nbsp; Pleasant Valley will be a bit of a wild card this year where they graduated plenty of talent from a senior class who won state titles in basketball and volleyball, but will return one of the top sophomores in Iowa in 6'2 pin attacker [player_tooltip player_id='243182' first='Isabelle' last='Kremer'].&nbsp; Another top sophomore in the state will be playing for West Des Moines Valley in [player_tooltip player_id='261075' first='Kaelyn' last='Wieland'] who can set and swing, an extremely dynamic player.&nbsp; Sioux City North will have a chance to make a statement to the rest of the state.&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='389834' first='Ava' last='Lloyd'] will be leading the North Stars as a sophomore where she had over 200 kills in her freshman campaign.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pool C </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5A - #6 Ankeny Centennial</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5A - #7 Iowa City Liberty </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5A - #9 Sioux City East</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>4A - #5 Norwalk</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://x.com/PrepDigChris/status/1587194527709908993?s=20","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/PrepDigChris/status/1587194527709908993?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I think Ankeny Centennial is a final four team with the type of athletes they have on their roster.&nbsp; However, they dropped their season opener to Indianola in four sets.&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='215425' first='Jaeden' last='Pratt'] is one of the top athletes overall in the Junior class where she is a dominant middle blocker, but is also receiving D1 offers for basketball.&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='215749' first='Delaney' last='Miller'] is one of the most dominant attackers in the state and will be putting up big numbers.&nbsp; Iowa City Liberty will have to replace a lot of point scoring ability from their Class 5A state championship team, but will have [player_tooltip player_id='215429' first='Asta' last='Hildebrand'] back as one of the top setters in 2025.&nbsp; Sioux City East is coming to make a name. Olivia Mentzer will be one of their top attackers and a really dynamic athlete to watch will be Hollie Petersen who can set and score points.&nbsp; Norwalk fell one match short of the state tournament in 2022 and will want to stay in the top eight to potentially host a regional final.&nbsp; This will be a great chance for them to get some high quality wins.&nbsp; They started their season with a win over a ranked Bondurant-Farrar and will look to senior leader [player_tooltip player_id='168192' first='Noelle' last='Sutcliffe'] to score plenty of points on the outside.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":452310,"width":412,"height":274,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/08/DSC07847.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-452310" style="width:412px;height:274px" width="412" height="274" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='168151' first='Kenzie' last='Dean']</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pool D </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5A - Waukee</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5A - Davenport West</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5A - #11 Council Bluffs Abe Lincoln </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5A - #2 Dowling</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Waukee will be coming in with plenty of youth and Davenport West will come in with a balanced attack that features Junior, Rachel Ehlers.&nbsp; Abe Lincoln and Dowling bring in a lot of fire power and both will be looking to playing in big matches come late October.&nbsp; Abe Lincoln has the do it all type setter in [player_tooltip player_id='168154' first='Molly' last='Romano'] who will head to Wayne State in Nebraska.&nbsp; An incredibly dynamic athlete, she can set up her teammates for kills or take it herself.&nbsp; Dowlng has one of the most dominant attackers in the state in Mc[player_tooltip player_id='168151' first='Kenzie' last='Dean'] who has committed to Kansas.&nbsp; The Maroons also have [player_tooltip player_id='215412' first='Ella' last='Rogers'], one of the top setters in the Class of 2025 in Iowa.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->