Marshalltown, IA—Battling off five set-points, the Marshalltown Community College Volleyball team provided a thrilling victory in the fourth set to give the Tigers a 3-1 win over visiting North Iowa Area Community College at the Student Activity Center on Tuesday night. MCC has now beaten the Trojans twice this season.
After taking the first set 25-20, the Tigers (3-13) fell in set two 25-19 as the Trojans (10-12) evened the match. MCC took down its opponent handily in set three, 25-15, setting up an exciting fourth set. The Tigers led late, but NIACC rallied to force extra points. MCC fought off five-set points from the Trojans and prevailed with a 31-29 win to take the match.
The Tigers also beat NIACC on Sept. 20 in a come-from-behind 3-2 victory in Mason City, IA.
Freshman Jordan Carter (Sigourney, IA/Sigourney) paced the Tigers with 19 kills, tying her career-high for the third time this season. Carter also tallied 14 digs. Raini Hilmer (Dyart, IA/Union) distributed the ball well all night, collecting 44 assists for her third-career game of at least 40 assists.
Rieley Rodman (Ankeny, IA/Grand View Christian) led the Tigers with 19 digs without recording a receiving error. Nicole Montgomery (Beamna, IA/BCLUW) added 11 digs in the victory to go along with 10 digs. Sophomore Lannie Dubberke (Cambridge, IA/Ballard) added eight kills.
The Tigers went back and forth with the Trojans through most of the first set. Leading 12-9, NIACC rattled off five of the next six points to take back the lead, but DaNesha Cowley (Waterloo, IA/Waterloo West) and Montgomery posted back-to-back kills to force a NIACC timeout. The Tigers led the rest of the way to go up 1-0.
MCC started strong in set two, taking a quick 4-1 lead, but the Trojans went on a 10-2 run midway through the set to pull away to even the match at one.
Set three saw another fast start from the Tigers, building another 4-1 lead. The Tigers built their largest lead of the night at 15-6 to send NIACC into a timeout. Montgomery served up five straight points for the Tigers as MCC rolled to a convincing victory to take a 2-1 match lead.
MCC looked like they were going to take set four early after building a 7-3 lead, but NIACC rebounded to keep the set close. The Tigers led 18-13, but after a NIACC timeout the Trojans regrouped and hung with the home team. Holding on to a 23-21 lead, NIACC scored three straight to force set point. Both sides traded points until Paola Toledo (Boca Chica, Dominican Republic/San Rafael) served up an ace to tie the set at 28.
The Tigers eluded trouble after multiple serving errors down the stretch allowed NIACC to have a chance. With a 30-29 lead and momentum on their side, Montgomery buried a kill for the game-winner.
After seven days off prior to Tuesday's game, the Tigers return to action right away with a road conference match at Iowa Western Community College tomorrow night at 7:00 PM.
