5A State: No. 1 PV Opens Strong; Centennial, Northwest Advance

<!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/yo4eOgD3JpU","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/yo4eOgD3JpU </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><a href="https://ighsau.org/upl/downloads/library/volleyball-2024-5a1.pdf">BOX SCORE</a></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>CORALVILLE, Iowa - </strong>Top-seeded Pleasant Valley found itself trailing No. 8 Waukee, 21-15, during the first set of Monday's Class 5A state tournament quarterfinals. The Spartans took a collective deep breath and leaned on their experience at this event. The young Warriors couldn't keep up but showed why their future is bright.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pleasant Valley's 3-0 victory pushed it into Wednesday's semifinals against No. 4 Dowling Catholic, which defeated No. 5 Indianola, 3-0, in another Monday semifinal. Waukee wrapped up its successful season with an 18-15 record facing the state's second hardest schedule coming into this event, according to Bound.com. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Spartans (33-2) hit .383 Monday, including an incredible .579 in the third set. Isabelle Kemer led the winners with 12 kills (.450) to go with five digs, [player_tooltip player_id='508627' first='Stella' last='Smith'] added nine kills and Gabrielle Ragins produced eight. That trio also came up with four solo blocks and six assisted blocks. Abbie Staats tied Kremer with a team-best five digs, Carsyn Kelly handed out 19 assists, and Lauren Brohm chipped in 15. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='443092' first='Malia' last='Rogers'] paced Waukee in kills (9) and digs (7). [player_tooltip player_id='443125' first='Liv' last='Davis'] posted 25 assists, and [player_tooltip player_id='500116' first='Alexa' last='Weber'] and [player_tooltip player_id='500115' first='Maggie' last='Craig'] recorded eight and five kills, respectively. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pleasant Valley played without starting six-rotation standout [player_tooltip player_id='490015' first='Mazie' last='Sweers'], whose foot was in a boot. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/wIBa4Tuogak","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/wIBa4Tuogak </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>CENTENNIAL TOPS CEDAR FALLS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://ighsau.org/upl/downloads/library/volleyball-2024-5a2.pdf">BOX SCORE</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>NO. 2 Ankeny Centennial reached the state semifinals for a a third year in a row, sweeping seventh-seeded Cedar Falls, 3-0, Monday here at XTream Arena. The Jaguars advanced to face No. 6 Waukee Northwest in Wednesday's semis, while the Tigers finished up a fantastic season at 33-7.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='215464' first='Delaney' last='Miller'] pounded out 24 kills (.309) and added 14 digs and a block for Centennial (32-4) on Monday. She received plenty of help from [player_tooltip player_id='215425' first='Jaeden' last='Pratt'] (10 kills, 17 digs), Mia Lei-Butters (20 digs, 7 assists), Maegen Cheeseman (16 assists, 9 digs) and [player_tooltip player_id='389060' first='Tatem' last='Schmidt'] (1 assists, 10 digs, 4 kills).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='261058' first='Brynn' last='Bakula'] handed out 19 assists and came up with 14 digs for Cedar Falls. [player_tooltip player_id='389853' first='Kennedy' last='Krecklow'] delivered nine kills and 13 digs, and [player_tooltip player_id='389010' first='Annistyn' last='Wedgbury'] produced 22 digs. [player_tooltip player_id='523167' first='Natalie' last=''] Schmadeke, [player_tooltip player_id='215408' first='Grace' last='Hannam'] and Kya Bradfield combined for 16 kills and 5.0 solo blocks. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Jaguars won two of three matches against Waukee Northwest this season. They took the CIML match, 3-2, on Sept. 3 in Ankeny. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/1SdwaY0-Gm4","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/1SdwaY0-Gm4 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>DEFENDING CHAMPION NORTHWEST TAKES DOWN ANKENY</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://ighsau.org/upl/downloads/library/volleyball-2024-4a4.pdf">BOX SCORE</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sixth-seeded Waukee Northwest lost a lot of talent to graduation after winning last year's state championships. The Wolves reloaded with young standouts, experienced growing pains and was expected to be building for 2025.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"Why not now? Why now now?," Wolves sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='389019' first='Avery' last='Vogt'] repeated after she and her teammates eliminated No. 3 Ankeny in straight sets at Monday's state tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The young Wolves lost three times to a veteran Ankeny team during the regular season, but believed in themselves and paid it off on Monday. Vogt smashed 15 kills and came up with 10 digs, while [player_tooltip player_id='389019' first='Avery' last='Vogt'] handed out 39 assists, and [player_tooltip player_id='545971' first='Avery' last='Cordes'] added seven kills and four solo blocks. [player_tooltip player_id='493601' first='Piper' last='Ladwig'] (9 kills), Cassidy Danburg (7) and [player_tooltip player_id='490011' first='Leah' last='Janulewicz'] (6) contributed to a balanced Northwest attack.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ankeny (36-4) reached the state tournament for the 22nd time since 2000 but couldn't find consistency on Monday. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/9HppJj5MU9Y","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/9HppJj5MU9Y </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->