Hutchinson, KS—On the opening day of the Blue Dragon Volleyball Classic, the Marshalltown Community College volleyball team split a pair of games on Friday, with an opening loss to host Hutchinson Community College followed by a win over Frank Phillips College. Mady Van Metre (Marshalltown, IA/Ames) tallied a season-high 20 kills in the Tigers' win.
Despite an early lead, the Tigers fell to the Blue Dragons 3-2, the team's second consecutive five-set match. The opening game was all MCC as the Tigers took the first set 25-18. A back-and-forth battle ensued in the second set, but Hutchinson evened the match with a 25-20 victory.
After jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the third, the Tigers rolled to a 25-17 victory to push the Blue Dragons to an elimination match. Hutchinson came out firing to start the fourth, building an 8-2 lead to start and held on to beat MCC 25-17. The Blue Dragons prevailed with a 15-10 win in the fifth-set tiebreaker to end the Tigers four-game winning streak.
Kayla Prosser (Eldora IA/South Hardin) posted a team-high 17 kills in the loss, her eighth double-digit kill match of the season. Van Metre chipped in with 11 kills. Sam Hinrichs (Ankeny, IA/Ankeny) tallied 42 assists while Riley Clark (Papillion, NE/Papillion La Vista South) registered a personal-best 19 digs.
Against Frank Phillips, the Tigers took the opening set for the fifth consecutive match with a narrow 28-26 victory. The Tigers never led by more than three for most of the match. Leading 19-16, the Plainsmen scored four straight to take their first lead of the contest. The Tigers battled back for a 24-23 lead, but Frank Phillips scored two straight, including a controversial call that was reversed in favor of the Plainsmen.
On the brink of defeat, the Tigers scored four of the next five points to rally and take the opening set.
The Tigers doubled their lead with a 25-21 victory in the second before the Plainsmen stole the third set, 25-19. The Tigers had little trouble finishing off their counterpart, taking a 25-20 victory in the fourth and final set.
Van Metre was one of three players to reach double-digit kills in the win, joining Prosser with 13 and Meghann Cole (Des Moines, IA/West Des Moines Valley) with a season-best 15 kills. Van Metre has now recorded six career 20-kill matches for the Tigers.
Hinrichs paced the offensive attack once again, totaling 46 assists in the match. Prosser added a personal-best 21 digs to go along with three service aces. Despite missing top-blocker Jadelyn Rohach (Toledo, IA/South Tama), the Tigers recorded 14 total blocks on the day.
The Tigers return to action at the Blue Devil Volleyball Classic tomorrow against Seminole State College at 11:00 AM and Jefferson College at 1:00 PM. Both matches will be streamed live via the Blue Dragon Sports Network.
