1A State Championship Recap: Ankeny Christian vs. Janesville

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thursday was filled with the best of the best in each class battling for a state title. These teams have worked incredibly hard all season long and have made it to the very end. First up, we have <a href="https://prepdig.com/player/havanna-dolbeare/" data-type="players" data-id="777812">[player_tooltip player_id='777812' first='Havanna' last='Dolbeare']</a> and the #1 Ankeny Christian Eagles who have had an impressive record this season going 40-2. They are filled with young talent, with only 5/15 of their kids being upperclassmen. Going up against them was the very experienced #2 Janesville Wildcats. The Wildcats are coming into this match 32-13 and with almost half of their roster being senior veterans, they have the confidence and experience to potentially take down the #1 Ankeny Eagles. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For more coverage, insight, and athlete write ups from the state tournament make sure to follow my Instagram @Prepdigmarissa</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">SET 1</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Janesville comes out hot in the first set and their offense is quick to find the floor, <a href="https://prepdig.com/player/tayah-pollock-3/" data-type="players" data-id="493972">[player_tooltip player_id='493972' first='Tayah' last='Pollock']</a> is quick to find <a href="https://prepdig.com/player/quinn-sweeney/" data-type="players" data-id="887022">[player_tooltip player_id='887022' first='Quinn' last='Sweeney']</a> and she was quick to rack up the kills, forcing the Eagles to call an early timeout (1-4). Ankeny Christian quickly finds their way back into the set and starts going point for point with the Wildcats. Janesville find a way to put pressure back on the Eagles and they start to pull away. <a href="https://prepdig.com/player/myah-zwanziger/" data-type="players" data-id="895473">[player_tooltip player_id='895473' first='Myah' last='Zwanziger']</a> gets herself an ace, getting Janesville to 20 first and the Eagles call their second timeout in hopes to stop the Wildcats (14-20). However, Zwanzinger finds herself another ace followed by Sweeney finding the court once again. After yet ANOTHER ace by Zwanzinger and another kill, Janesville gets to set point and a missed serve by Ankeny gives the Wildcats set 1 (25-15)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">SET 2</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Janesville finds Sweeney early in the second set, but the Eagles are figuring out how to shut down the Wildcat's offense and put on some pressure. Ankeny Christian started to heat up and Janesville started to beat themselves. <a href="https://prepdig.com/player/havanna-dolbeare/" data-type="players" data-id="777812">[player_tooltip player_id='777812' first='Havanna' last='Dolbeare']</a> and <a href="https://prepdig.com/player/maleah-porter/" data-type="players" data-id="945046">[player_tooltip player_id='945046' first='Maleah' last='Porter']</a> are getting the Eagle's offense on a roll and they start to pull away in set 2. Although the Wildcats were finding ways to close the gaps, Dolbeare was the one to find for the Eagles. Janesville calls a timeout (14-18) but Ankeny remains assertive and gets within 2 point of taking set 2. The Wildcats go on a little run, but the Eagles find Havanna and close out set 2 (25-18).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">SET 3</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both teams know that set 3 will be very pivotal and they're playing like it with both offenses coming in hot. Janesville is doing a great job recycling the ball and gets good momentum to start the set. The Eagles answer right back and take an early lead and push to extend it. The Wildcats can't seem to to find any kind of groove in the 3rd set and Ankeny continues to get more and more fired up as the set goes on. The Eagles manage to take set 3 after Porter gets a kill out of the middle (25-15)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">SET 4</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Set 4 starts with Dolbeare and Sweeney go point for point with their kills. After going point for point, the Eagles start pulling away and force the Wildcats to call a timeout (10-14). Ankeny Christian's offense is fired up and we have every hitter finding a way to score. Janesville ended up losing their spark and started to beat themselves fairly early. Their offense starts making a lot of unforced errors and Ankeny Christian uses that to their advantage and finishes out the match and wins the state title (25-15).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">Stat Leaders</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kills: <a href="https://prepdig.com/player/quinn-sweeney/" data-type="players" data-id="887022">[player_tooltip player_id='887022' first='Quinn' last='Sweeney']</a> (Janesville)- 23 kills &amp; <a href="https://prepdig.com/player/havanna-dolbeare/" data-type="players" data-id="777812">[player_tooltip player_id='777812' first='Havanna' last='Dolbeare']</a> (Ankeny Christian)- 20 kills</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Digs: <a href="https://prepdig.com/player/avlyn-davis/" data-type="players" data-id="893055">[player_tooltip player_id='893055' first='Avlyn' last='Davis']</a> (Ankeny Christian)- 19 digs, <a href="https://prepdig.com/player/danica-brinkman/" data-type="players" data-id="998543">[player_tooltip player_id='998543' first='Danica' last='Brinkman']</a> (Janesville) &amp; <a href="https://prepdig.com/player/hayden-anderson/" data-type="players" data-id="518035">[player_tooltip player_id='518035' first='Hayden' last='Anderson']</a> (Janesville)- 15 digs</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Aces: <a href="https://prepdig.com/player/myah-zwanziger/" data-type="players" data-id="895473">[player_tooltip player_id='895473' first='Myah' last='Zwanziger']</a> (Janesville)- 4 aces</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Assists: <a href="https://prepdig.com/player/tayah-pollock-3/" data-type="players" data-id="493972">[player_tooltip player_id='493972' first='Tayah' last='Pollock']</a> (Janesville)- 40 assists</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->