Marshalltown, IA - The 2018-19 school year is almost underway and the fall sports at Marshalltown Community College are in full swing. The MCC volleyball team has been on campus since August 1 preparing for their first match on Wednesday, August 22. Another young squad for Head Coach Justin Hoskins this year but they look to improve on lasts years winning season.
Last season the Tigers finished 20-16, showing an eight-win improvement from the year before. Starting the season 7-0 the Tigers looked to make some noise before injury plagued the team. Entering the regional tournament at 20-14 and down to 7 healthy players, the Tigers dropped matches with Indian Hills Community College and Vincennes University to end their season. The Reivers of Iowa Western captured the Region IX Championship and moved on the Distract play were they easily made it to Nationals, placing seventh after a second round loss.
This season the top two teams from Region IX will be split into two separate districts. Districts J and K will feature teams from regions 4,11,12,16, and 24. With the reorganization of Districts, there are now two available at-large bids reserved for teams that do not win the District. With a three team conference, this new format will put the #1 team at one district and the #2 at another, eliminating the #3 team at the end of the regular season.
Last year the Tigers relied on freshman Jelena Dukic to set the offense. This year her role will expand as the sophomore leader of the team. A season ago the Futog, Serbia native ranked in the top 10 nationally for assist and will need to do that and more to push the Tigers through to a Distract birth.
"Jelena will provide a key leadership role both on and off the court," stated Head Volleyball Coach Justin Hoskins. "I'm confident that she will build off of her successful freshman year and help us take our program to new heights."
Another young roster for the Tigers in 2018, Dukic is the only remaining sophomore from last year's team. Nine freshman will make up the rest of the roster, forcing many to step up as key players early on.
"Our freshmen class is deep," stated Hoskins. "All of our freshmen have had moments where they look very good and moments where they have looked overwhelmed. The rate that our freshman improve will have a huge impact on our success this season and I believe this group will rise to that challenge."
The ICCAC is arguably the toughest conference in the NJCAA, hosting national powers in almost every sport. Iowa Western Community College, is again, ranked in the top five and will look to improve on their 7th place finish a year ago and reclaim the National Championship they earned back in 2016. The Reivers start 2018-ranked third and bring back the only First Team All-Region selections from last season in Hina Pua'a and Irina Alekseeva. Indian Hills Community College spent most the 2017 season in the rankings but failed to make the cut to start the 2018 season. The Warriors bring back three players that will turn heads in Brooke Johnson-Watkins, Cecilia Campos, and Thayna Brimba. All three saw extensive playing time last year and will be a key part of the Warriors success this season.
While the Tigers will have to fight the Reivers and Warriors for a spot in District play, coach Hoskins thinks his young and talented group can shake up the conference.
"I'm excited to watch this team grow throughout the season. We've got a talented group that has the potential to make some noise within our conference."
The Tigers will hit the road on Monday, August 20 on a weeklong trip to North Carolina. The team will stop in Dayton, Ohio Monday night before making it to the coast on Tuesday. The Tigers will open up their season against Central Carolina Community College on Wednesday, August 22, then travel to USC Salkehatchie on Thursday for a 6:00 PM match and play in a triangular on Friday against Richard Bland College and Sandhills Community College. Saturday They will play at Fayetteville Technical Community College at 1:00 PM and then begin their journey back to Marshalltown.
The Tigers will open up their home schedule on Wednesday, August 29 when the JV squad of William Penn University makes the trip to Marshalltown for two matches in the Student Activity Center at 6:00/7:30 PM. For more information about the MCC Volleyball team, follow @tigervb_mcc on twitter.
