Kennedy Volleyball

Cougars top Ankeny for state berth

As she was clutching “Vaughn the Monkey,” the stuffed animal team mascot for her Kennedy volleyball squad, junior Gabbie Meyer had to be told what it meant for the Cougars to “get the monkey off their back.”

All she knew was that the girls collectively before the season started a nonsensically-named “V-Ball Monkey” twitter account to whimsically communicate among themselves.

Meyer’s well-worn childhood toy monkey has been on the Kennedy bench ever since.

It’s turned into a good luck charm because Tuesday night on their home floor the inspired Cougar girls did indeed get the monkey off their back by advancing to next week’s state tournament after losing in the regional finals each of the past three years.

Senior team leader and setter-extraordinaire Anna Fluent needed no explanation for what that meant.

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No. 9 Cougars sweep past Warriors

Madison Palmer collected 28 assists Tuesday night as the ninth-ranked Kennedy Cougars swept Washington, 25-12, 25-12, 25-12, in a Mississippi Valley Conference volleyball match at Washington.

Paige Frank had 11 kills for the Cougars. Emma Boote finished with 10 kills and four aces.

Kennedy raised its record to 27-9 overall. Washington fell to 3-30.

Prairie takes flight at MVC volleyball

DUBUQUE – This is the state's proving ground of whether a team is playoff ready. History's proven if you win at the Mississippi Valley Conference volleyball tournament, you can win anywhere, even under the bright high-pressure lights of the U.S. Cellular Center at the state meet.

“This is the end of a battle of attrition,” said Iowa City High coach Craig Pitcher. “The conference has been rock, paper, scissors all year.”

“It's a long, trying day,” Linn-Mar all-state outside hitter Amanda Ollinger said. “You know going into every game it's going to be a battle, especially since you're playing the teams you face all year.”

“It's the longest day of the year,” Kennedy setter Anna Fluent said.

And after the way they dug, set, spiked and weaved their way to the title match of Saturday's rigorous and taxing nine-hour MVC Tournament, the surging Prairie Hawks – who've already captured their first MVC divisional crown since 2008 – look ready for anything the road to the Class 5A state tournament may bring their way.

“I told them if this doesn't help your confidence beating all these ranked teams, I don't know what will,” a thrilled Hawks Coach Lynnette Stecklein said. “It was a great day.

“This team got better today.”

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Anderson wins Metro Spotlight Award

Macy Anderson of Cedar Rapids Kennedy is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school girls this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

Anderson, a senior, is a key member of the Kennedy volleyball team that is ranked No. 5 in Class 5A with a 21-8 overall record.

Anderson is the leading kill-shot artist for the balanced Cougars this year with 168. She had 11 kills Tuesday night when Kennedy swept Dubuque Senior, 3-0, to finish its Valley Division slate with a perfect 6-0 record.

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