Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

CORALVILLE – West High had an impressive turnaround season end on Monday with a loss to second-ranked Ankeny Centennial in the opening round of the Class 5A state tournament.

It felt like just the beginning for the Trojans.

Making its first state tournament appearance since 2016 eighth-ranked West High battled but came up short late in sets in a 25-23, 25-17, 25-23 loss to Ankeny Centennial at Xtream Arena in Coralville.

With just two juniors and five underclassmen in its starting rotation the Trojans were already picturing a state tournament return in 2026.

“All of our starters are back next year so while we are excited to make it as far as we did but we want to go all the way next year,” West High junior Sophia Austen said. “Having that experience now we are excited for the future.”

Austen was excellent in her state tournament debut on Monday hammering a match-high 16 kills while freshman Cyan Blommer had 11 kills for West High (27-5).

It wasn’t enough to overcome a veteran Ankeny Centennial squad with five senior starters making its sixth consecutive state tournament appearance.

Ankeny Centennial (33-5) had five players with at least five kills led by senior Tatem Schmidt with 11 as the Jaguars returned to the 5A semifinals for the fourth consecutive season.

“They are a veteran squad so they had confidence and it’s hard to compete with that because they are a great team but it really showed that our girls could come in here and play,” first-year West High coach Jaedynn Evans said. “I think we kind of proved a point that West High is here and ready to come back next year full swing.”

Monday’s state tournament appearance capped an incredible breakthrough season for West High.

The 27 wins are the most for West High since 2015 as the Trojans snapped a string of seven consecutive losing seasons.

West High did it all without a senior in its starting rotation which makes the excitement for the future sky high.

“This experience was new for everyone and now that we’ve been here we know that we can make it again,” Blommer said. “All our starters are back so I think we’ll be back here next year.”

West High was in every set from the outset on Monday.

In the opening set West High erased a late-five point deficit with a 6-1 spurt that was fueled by a pair of kills from Austen and tied the set at 23-all.

Ankeny Centennial scored the final two points of the set out of a time out on kills by Schmidt to win the opening set.

“I think went out there gave it our all,” Austen said. “There were some moments that we kind of dipped and we aren’t proud of that but we also know at the end of the day we left everything we had on the court.”

It was a similar formula for the Jaguars in the final two sets.

Ankeny Centennial broke open a tight set in the second with a 5-0 run that gave the Jaguars a 21-14 lead.

In the third West High led 23-21 before Ankeny Centennial scored the final four points to complete the sweep.

“All match we talked about this is right where we want to be,” Austen said. “We thrive in close situations and yes at the end of every set they ended up pulling away a little bit but I am so proud of how we battled the entire game and we left it all out there on the court.”

Blommer closed the season with 287 kills, Austen had 285.

Those two return to give West High one of the top hitting duos in the state next fall.

“They are a very veteran squad and we knew that coming in, they’ve been in this situation before,” Austen said. “We have that experience too now and we are excited for next year.”

Sophomore middles Audrey Small and Taylor Otte combined for 11 kills and six blocks on Monday.

Both return along with freshman Josephine Austen who had two kills and junior setter Lila Eastvold who had 32 assists.

Sophomore libero Izzie McDonald had a team-high 22 digs for West High.

“I am going to constantly remind them of the feeling that we had after that match,” Evans said. “I’m sure it lit a fire now but as things settle they will kind of forget about it but I think constantly telling them to remember that feeling is going to push them to work a lot harder.”

West High                  23  17  23

Ankeny Centennial   25  25  25

West High (Kills-aces-blocks)

Cyan Blommer 11-0-0, Izzie McDonald 0-0-0, Lila Eastvold 1-2-2, Taylor Otte 5-0-4, Audrey Small 6-0-2, Sophia Austen 16-0-3, Josephine Austen 2-0-0, Totals 41-2-11.

Assists – Lila Eastvold 32, Izzie McDonald 5, Cyan Blommer 1, Sophia Austen 1

Ankeny Centennial (Kills-aces-blocks)

Mya Lei-Butters 0-1-0, Nora Bockes 0-1-0, Ellie Pollock 6-1-1, Kaelyn Rinehart 1-3-0, Tatem Schmidt 11-0-2, Mady Ott 5-0-1, Maegen Cheeseman 10-0-2, Adilyne Reyes 3-0-1, Sophia Heither 8-0-3, Totals 44-6-10.

Assists – Maegen Cheeseman 17, Tatem Schmidt 15, Mya Lei-Butters 9, Kaelyn Rinehart 3

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