West Burlington, IA—An all-around team effort lifted the Marshalltown Community College women's volleyball team to a 3-1 upset victory over Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) opponent Southeastern Community College on Wednesday night. With the win, the Tigers clinch a playoff berth in the upcoming Division II Region XI Tournament.
The Tigers will receive the No. 4 seed in the Region XI-B bracket and will face No. 1 seed Kirkwood Community College at Kirkwood at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, Nov. 5. For a full breakdown of the Region XI Tournament, click here.
After dropping the first set against Southeastern, the Tigers posted three straight wins to defeat the Blackhawks, a team that received votes in this week's NJCAA Division II poll. Southeastern has appeared in the national polls in seven of the eight weeks and received a ranking as high as No. 12 this year. The Tigers have now defeated the Blackhawks in three straight tries.
MCC fell 26-24 in the first set but rallied back with consecutive 25-21 wins to build a 2-1 lead. The Tigers had no problem finishing off the Blackhawks in the fourth set, scoring a 25-14 victory to improve to 4-6 in conference play and 22-17 overall.
"We executed our game plan perfectly tonight," said head coach Chris Brees."We were able to shut down the number one hitter in the country with an unbelievable defensive effort at the net." Brees was referring to Mattie Gray who entered the game leading the nation in kills (696) and kills per set (5.80). The Tigers posted 13 total blocks on the night to disrupt Gray's performance, the team's second highest total on the year.
Reeba Box (Liscomb, IA/BCLUW) led the Tigers with three solo blocks and five block assists while Sam Hinrichs (Ankeny, IA/Ankeny) recorded one solo block and five block assists.
"Defensively, we played out of our minds tonight," Brees continued. "Ashley Salgado came up huge for us." Salgado tallied 35 digs on the night, her highest total since Sept. 21. Alyssa Whitmore (Legrand, IA/East Marshall) came up with 15 digs while Hinrichs added 11. Hinrichs also registered 40 assists, her sixth career 40-assist effort.
In the first set loss, the Tigers posted .035 hitting percentage. MCC was able to bounce back in the next three sets, posting percentages of .245, .317, and .229, respectively. Katelyn Yauslin (Cedar Rapids, IA/Alburnett) recorded a team-high 12 kills while Meghann Cole (Des Moines, IA/West Des Moines Valley) posted 11.
MCC, Ellsworth Community College, and Iowa Lakes Community College entered the night tied in the league standings with a 3-6 conference mark, with the Lakers and the Panthers holding the tiebreaker over MCC. Iowa Lakes was eliminated from playoff contention with a 3-0 loss to Southwestern Community College. Ellsworth fell to North Iowa Area Community College but will receive the No. 8 seed in the tournament.
MCC has two regular season matches remaining- a pair of nonconference games at Des Moines Area Community College on Friday. The Tigers will take on the Bears at 3:00 PM and Indian Hills Community College at 5:00 PM.
