Dave Whims knew he had an experienced team.
And that maturity has helped Ankeny’s volleyball team through a difficult schedule in the first month of the season.
The Hawkettes, No. 4 in Class 5A in the IGHSAU rankings, are 21-5 after Tuesday’s sweep of Urbandale, a victory needed after two losses on Saturday to No. 4 West Des Moines Valley and No. 2 (Class 4A) Sergeant Bluff-Luton in a tournament in Waukee.
Whims knows his team has been tested.
“Hopefully it pays off down the stretch,” he said. “We play many of the top 10 teams and that helps sharpen our play. Hopefully we will see the benefit of playing a tough schedule as we head into tourney play. We should have confidence when we take the floor because of our schedule knowing we played many of the top teams.”
The Hawkettes had a 12-match winning streak earlier this month in which they lost just one set.
“The learning curve has been positive for each player, and skill development is coming along,” whims said. “Every girl is really starting to believe in my system of everyone will get a chance to play, so be ready to do you job. They work hard in practice give great effort and we are building depth in our program so that makes practice competitive and improvement continues to show each night.”
Ankeny’s top five kill leaders are either seniors or juniors. Senior Malea Daughtery has 122 kills, senior Isabelle Vacek has 116, junior McKenna Scheib had 92, junior Phyona Schrader had 84 and senior Reilly Johnson has 78. Scheib leads the team with 59 blocks.
“This has been a great experience to have so many players back from a year ago,” Whims said. “We are tweaking a few things giving them lots of reps in practice and that has caused them to be calm when faced with pressure in a match. We have played many of the top teams during the season and been close or beat them Having their leadership has helped them sustain the effort needed to win. They carry out their assignments and help others work on getting better.”
The Hawkettes have also done well moving the ball on offense. Schrader has 242 assists, while junior Marissa Faber has 208.
“My setters carry a huge load distributing the ball,” Whims said. “They are doing great. We are running a 6-2 offense and that has helped add Phyona Schrader to the attack system on offense plus add another pair of hands on the floor. They are learning how to mix up the offense.”
Ankeny Centennial moved up one spot to No. 9 in the IGHSAU Class 5A volleyball rankings after Tuesday’s 3-0 win over Ames on Tuesday night.
Devyn Robinson had 11 kills and 12 digs for the Jaguars. Olivia Anderson had seven kills. Ella Becker had 14 digs.
The Ankeny boys’ golf team won the Southeast Polk Invitational on Wednesday.
The Hawks finished with a 300 for a four-stroke victory in the team standings. Ankeny’s Corbin Walker shot a 72 to finish with runner-up medalist honors.
Ankeny Centennial finished sixth with a 309.
It was the third win of the week for the Hawks, who won the Indianola Invitational on Monday and a dual meet against Johnston on Tuesday.
Ankeny Centennial’s girls’ cross country team is No. 8 in the IATC Class 4A rankings, while the boys team is No. 15.
Centennial’s Morgan Graybill is ranked No. 29 in the 4A girls individual rankings, while Sophie Lee is No. 30. Gabriel Vicker is No. 9 in the boys rankings.