CORALVILLE — Sophia Heither was not listed in the official program roster for the state volleyball tournament, but the Ankeny Centennial junior made her presence felt on the court during the No. 2 seed Jaguars’ 25-23, 25-17, 25-23 sweep over No. 7 Iowa City West on Nov. 3.
Heither had eight kills and just two attack errors, and she also assisted on two blocks to help Centennial advance to the state semifinals with a 33-5 record.
“She stepped up a lot today,” said Centennial setter Tatem Schmidt. “She knew what she had to work with, and going into it she knew she was going to have to bring more energy. She did just that.”
Heither came up with some clutch kills in the first set that saw Schmidt finish off a close victory with back-to-back kills. In the second set Heither tallied a late kill and block to help the Jaguars pull away for a comfortable win.
In the third set, Centennial trailed 22-20 when Heither delivered a big block to start a 6-1 Jaguar run to end the set and the match.
Heither’s effort was part of a balanced Centennial attack.
Schmidt had 11 kills, 15 assists, 15 digs and two blocks, and Maegen Cheeseman finished with 17 assists, 10 kills, five digs and two blocks in another outstanding effort by the two versatile setters. Mya Lei-Butters recorded 19 digs, Ellie Pollock finished with 16 digs and six kills, Mady Ott had five kills and Kaelyn Reinhart three of Centennial’s six aces.
The Jaguars finished with a 22.2% attack-efficiency rate to Iowa City West’s 15.6%. That and a 6-2 edge in serve aces proved to be the difference in the match.
“We came into that game knowing we were going to have to work for it — we were going to have to work our butts off and play our best ball,” Schmidt said. “We just came in with energy, positivity and just knowing we had to play hard.”
Iowa City West finished 27-6 under first-year coach Jaedynn Evans.
Evans has done a remarkable job turning the program around. The Trojans had not recorded a winning season since 2017, and they had lost more than 20 matches in each of the previous two seasons.
“She knew from day one she wanted to get the West volleyball program back to where it was,” said Trojan outside hitter Sophia Austen. “I think she did just that.”
Every Iowa City West starter will be back next season. The Trojans have only two seniors on their roster.
Austen, an Iowa State verbal commit, tallied a match-high 16 kills, and she also had eight digs and three blocks. Cyan Blommer tacked on 11 kills and 17 digs, Izzie McDonald 23 digs and Lila Eastvold 32 assists for the Trojans.
“I’m really proud of how we battled that entire (match),” Austen said. “We left it all out on the court. They’re (Centennial) a veteran squad, and we kind of knew that coming in, but we have that experience too now.”
Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Ankeny Centennial powers past Iowa City West in the 5A state volleyball quarterfinals
Reporting by Joe Randleman, Des Moines Register / Ames Tribune
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