Iowa Falls, IA—A late rally from Ellsworth Community College snapped the Marshalltown Community College women's volleyball team's six-game winning streak as the Panthers came from behind to take a 3-2 victory over the Tigers. MCC falls to 3-4 in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) while Ellsworth improves to 2-5.
Meghann Cole (Des Moines, IA/West Des Moines Valley) and Alyssa Whitmore (Legrand, IA/East Marshall), this week's ICCAC Offensive and Defensive Players of the week, respectively, carried the Tigers on both ends of the court in the loss. Cole recorded her third straight double-digit kill match with a team-high 15 while Whitmore posted 24 digs on the night, also a team-high.
Sam Hinrichs (Ankeny, IA/Ankeny) tallied 38 assists throughout the match while also contributing seven kills and 17 digs. Miranda Smith (Albion, IA/Marshalltown) came up with six total blocks on the night and added 13 kills to keep the Tigers in the match.
MCC jumped out early, taking the first set 25-15. Ellsworth answered right back in the second set with a close 25-22 win. The Tigers looked to be in control after dominating in the third set, scoring a 25-13 win, but the Panthers came out firing in the fourth set as Ellsworth took a convincing 25-12 win to send the match to a fifth-set tiebreaker.
Inside a packed gymnasium, the Tigers held a late 10-8 in the fifth set lead but the Panthers rallied back with four straight points. Both sides traded points to even things up at 15, but Ellsworth was able to score the last two points to take the conference win.
The Tigers will head to the Des Moines Area Community College Invitational this weekend, participating in four games with some of their toughest competition of the season. MCC opens up the tournament on Friday with a 9:00 AM match against Parkland College, ranked No. 2 in this week's NJCAA rankings. The Tigers will also face South Suburban College who received votes in this week's poll.
