Estherville, IA—Playing in their final regular season match of the season, the Marshalltown Community College volleyball team left it all on the court, going point for by point in a thrilling five-set defeat against Iowa Lakes Community College on Saturday evening.
Saturday's match showed that the Tigers have vastly improved throughout the course of the season, battling for each and every point. The first four sets were decided by no more than three points, as Iowa Lakes took the first two sets, 25-23 and 25-22. MCC rallied to take the third set 28-26 and held off the Lakers 25-23 to force a fifth set.
MCC fought until the very end, but Iowa Lakes outlasted the Tigers 15-9 in the final frame.
Four different players posted at least 10 kills on the night, led by freshman Sara Bisbe's (Barcelona, Spain/CV Saint Cugat) 16. DaNesha Cowley (Waterloo, IA/Waterloo West) added 12 and Jordan Carter (Sigourney, IA/Sigourney) totaled 11. Sophomore Paola Toledo (Boca Chica, Dominican Republic/San Rafael) recorded 10 finishers.
Freshman Nina Bales (Lacona, IA/Southeast Warren) registered 45 assists and two block assists. Sophomore Nicole Montgomery (Beaman, IA/BCLUW) led MCC with four block assists. Rieley Rodman (Ankeny, IA/Grand View Christian) led MCC defensively with 25 digs.
MCC finishes the 2016 regular season with a 12-20 record, an eight win improvement from last year's 4-21 record.
Next up for MCC is the NJCAA District J Tournament in Council Bluffs, IA, hosted by Iowa Western Community College. The third-seeded Tigers open up the double elimination tournament against No. 2 seed Indian Hills Community College at 3:00 PM.
