The Comets used that energy to fight for every point, but couldn’t find a consistent answer for the depth and experience of the two-time defending champions from Ankeny Christian Academy.

The Eagles swept aside BCLUW in straight sets for a “three-peat” at the Xtream Arena in Coralville.

ACA won, 25-15, 25-13, 25-13, sweeping their way through the 1A field to a final record of 39-5. BCLUW’s season closes at 33-11.

“This has just felt like a dream,” said BCLUW setter Cassie Nason, one of two Comets on the 1A all-tournament team along with junior hitter Grace Farnsworth. “I wouldn’t want to change anything about these last three days, just running on a high 24/7, running around the hallways in the hotel with your teammates, it’s just been so fun.”

T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER - The BCLUW volleyball team poses with its Class 1A state runner-up trophy after falling to Ankeny Christian Academy in Thursday’s finals at Xtream Arena in Coralville. It’s the second-straight year bringing home a state tournament trophy for the Comets.

BCLUW had some fire to start the first set, trading blows with the Eagles to a 6-5 opening margin.

But some points started falling for the Eagles, including kills for Morgan Fincham and Katie Quick and back-to-back blocks for the duo, snowballing into a 14-6 Eagles advantage in the first set.

“I definitely think we were excited, we were ready,” BCLUW head coach Megan Yantis said. “But I also feel like there were definitely some nerves that came into play.”

The Comets answered with three consecutive kills from Farnsworth, but another 6-1 spurt for ACA put the first set safely out of reach for the deft Eagles attack. BCLUW fought off set point three times before succumbing to the 1-0 deficit.

“ACA’s a very good team,” Farnsworth said. “They had really good defense and our back row players did a great job and Cassie was just getting everybody involved, and us hitters tried our hardest to hit the open spots we could.”

T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER - The BCLUW volleyball team huddles together one last time on the court after falling to Ankeny Christian Academy in Thursday’s Class 1A state championship match at Xtream Arena in Coralville.

There just wasn’t much in the way of openings — Farnsworth had 12 kills and Olivia Peters added nine but ACA was the more composed team, more able to avoid getting knocked out of system.

The Eagles stormed to a 13-5 advantage in set two and were up 16-7 in the third set before closing out both.

“They’ve got a lot of weapons,” Yantis said. “We wanted to get them out of system, but it just seemed like they had an answer for everything.”

Macey Nehring led ACA with 17 kills, one of three Eagles with double-digit kills, including all-tournament team captain and Drake volleyball commit Katie Quick, finishing with 10 kills, 36 assists and seven digs in the championship matchup.

Nason had 22 assists and 10 digs; Klayre Gallentine made 14 digs and Farnsworth added eight digs. Nason and Farnsworth were part of an all-tournament team that had four Ankeny Christian selections, as well as North Tama’s Kruiz Ewoldt.

T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER - The members of the Class 1A state volleyball all-tournament team pose together after Thursday’s championship match. Pictured, from left, are Kruiz Ewoldt of North Tama, Cassie Nason of BCLUW, Ankeny Christian Academy’s Katie Quick, Macey Nehring, Carley Craighead and Anna Weathers, and BCLUW’s Grace Farnsworth.

“Cassie had huge shoes to fill when we lost Sydney and had no varsity experience beside a few games here and there,” Yantis said. “I’m so proud of her for coming in and being so composed, being able to do everything that she has on the court for our hitters.

“Grace is just our go-to person out there. She may make some mistakes at times but the next swing is always going to be as hard as the last one, and she’s very resilient, she never lets down — she’s always going to go after it.”

It was the final game for seniors Nason, Crawford, Gallentine, Sarah Garber, Savannah Moeller, and Virginia and Goldie Kaisand.

“They’ve got a lot of fire, they definitely kept me on my toes,” Yantis said. “But they also believed in me, which is something we really needed after losing coach [Abby] Stephenson last year. We had a lot of similar ideas and philosophies but there were things that were going to be different and the seniors really bought into that. I’m thankful for their leadership and everything they’ve done for us this season.”

Farnsworth and Peters will return next fall as a solid nucleus to rebuild around, along with Brinna Benson who saw some key experience in the back row this season.

“Grace and Pete are going to lead the way and I think we will have a beautiful chance next year,” Nason said.

Farnsworth said she’ll be ready to take on the role.

“I will have to show great leadership and uplift everybody just like this year’s seniors did for our team,” Farnsworth said. “Everybody gave it their all these last couple of games we had, and even though we didn’t win, I’m just glad I could do it with the team and community back there to support us.”

Yantis said community was everything for the girls, including listening to letters from little well-wishers at the middle school before Thursday’s game.

“Their support has meant so much to us,” Yantis said. “This is something the girls have dreamed of, and to make it a reality has been really awesome for them and I hope they were able to soak it in and enjoy it — they’re going to remember this for a long time.”

CLASS 1A

Quarterfinals

Tuesday, Nov. 5

Ankeny Christian def. Don Bosco, 25-18, 25-18, 25-22

Riverside def. North Tama, 18-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-16, 15-11

Janesville def. St. Ansgar, 25-23, 27-25, 25-22

BCLUW def. Holy Trinity Catholic, 25-22, 25-16, 25-19

Semifinals

Wednesday, Nov. 6

Ankeny Christian Academy def. Riverside, 25-12, 25-21, 25-18

BCLUW def. Janesville, 25-17, 25-23, 25-19

Championship

Thursday, Nov. 7

Ankeny Christian Academy def. BCLUW, 25-15, 25-13, 25-13

Class 1A All-Tournament Team

Carley Craighead, Ankeny Christian

Cassie Nason, BCLUW

Anna Weathers, Ankeny Christian

Kruiz Ewoldt, North Tama

Grace Farnsworth, BCLUW

Macey Nehring, Ankeny Christian

Katie Quick, Ankeny Christian (captain)