Burlington, IA—Taking part in its third-straight five-set match, the Marshalltown Community College volleyball team put together multiple rallies to come from behind and defeat Southeastern Community College 3-2 on the road. The Tigers improve to 7-14 on the year.
The Tigers won the first set with ease, 25-18 but dropped the next two sets 25-21 and 25-19 to fall behind 2-1. MCC regrouped after a timeout in the fourth set and bounced back for a 25-22 victory. For the third time in three days, MCC went to a fifth-set tiebreaker where the Tigers outlasted the Blackhawks (4-11) 15-9.
Freshman Sara Bisbe (Barcelona, Spain/CV Saint Cugat) recorded her third-straight match with double-digit kills and sixth time in her last seven with a team-high 17. Sophomore DaNesha Cowley (Waterloo, IA/Waterloo West) added 10 kills and a career-high five block assists.
Freshman Nina Bales (Lacona, IA/Southeast Warren) dished out 35 assists while Rieley Rodman (Ankeny, IA/Grand View Christian) racked up 22 digs.
The Tigers entered Monday night fresh off of a split at the NIACC Tournament on Saturday. MCC fell to tournament host North Iowa Area Community College in five sets before rebounding for a 3-2 victory over Ellsworth Community College.
Monday's opening set belonged to the Tigers after MCC scored eleven consecutive points to take a 13-2 lead and cruised to the first set victory. Set two also went the Tigers' way early on after MCC built a 10-5 advantage. The Blackhawks answered with a quick spurt of their own and finished the set with six of the final seven points to even the match.
Southeastern carried its momentum into the third set and held a marginal lead over the Tigers to open the fourth set. After falling behind 6-1 to start the fourth frame, MCC whistled for a timeout to regain composure. The Tigers scored 12 of the next 18 and eventually pulled away to force the fifth set.
Each side went point-for-point in the final frame until the Tigers scored seven of the final eight points to seal the victory. Sophomore Jordan Carter (Sigourney, IA/Sigourney) proved to be the difference maker in the final frame after serving up a pair of aces. Carter finished the night with three aces and seven kills.
The win was the second of the year over Southeastern for MCC. The Tigers won the previous meeting 3-1 on Sept. 17 in Marshalltown.
Bisbe moved into the top 10 in the national kills category with a team-high 275 on the year. The freshman currently ranks ninth in the NJCAA. Bisbe's 3.72 kills per set also rank second in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC).
The Tigers travel to Iowa Western Community College for a 7:00 PM conference match on Wednesday night.
