NCC won 26-24, 25-10, 25-18. Marshalltown CC dropped to 7-13 overall and 0-7 in conference play; Northeast is now 19-12 and 5-2 in conference.

In set one, MCC had set point at 24-21 before Northeast scored five in a row to snatch the set from the Tigers. MCC also lost an early 5-0 lead in that set.

"We've been practicing a true 6-2 offense to have more firepower in the front row at all times, and we hadn't played it, so I think Northeast wasn't able to scout us," MCC coach Chris Brees said. "We used that to our advantage, but then we fell into the same trap of us not knowing how to finish a game, being too scared to finish, waiting for them to make a mistake."

The Tigers didn't have the energy to get back up for the second set, as the Hawks rolled out to a 15-3 start and never looked back.

"It hurt to lose that first set the way we did, but we have to learn to let that go," Brees said. "But that will happen when you have a lot of young players out there at one time. We're really missing that one true physical and vocal leader on our squad, and it makes it tough."

MCC started up 3-0 in the third set and went back and forth with Northeast until a 5-1 run to push the Hawks to a 19-14 advantage – the Tigers couldn't get within three points of the Hawks the rest of the way.

Yafriel Payano Pichardo led the Tigers with 12 kills, Genesis Melenciano Carela had seven kills and Kaylee LaPlant and Rezzan Guner had six and four kills, respectively.

"Genesis really started going up there toward the end and ripping a couple," Brees said. "I just wish we could get them all doing that from the beginning of every match, playing carefree.

"We're very good defensively, I think we have some of the best defensive specialists and liberos," Brees said. "We're just not always translating those digs to points, but the defense really keeps us in those rallies."

In addition to putting firepower up front at the net, Brees hopes the 6-2 is putting as much experience on the floor as possible with only three sophomores playing on the floor for the Tigers on Wednesday.

"I want more experience out there, more calmness," Brees said. "It might not be flashy, but they're going to be solid for us."

MCC finishes a home-and-away non-conference series with Faith Baptist Bible College in Storm Lake on Friday before returning to conference play at Southwestern Community College on Oct. 15.

The Tigers swept Faith Baptist, 3-0, in Marshalltown on Sept. 30.

"We really haven't had the same lineup for any two consecutive matches if there's a day in-between because of injury, sickness," Brees said. "We'll need to sharpen up this 6-2 for our next conference game. … I think we just need to play harder. We can't go up 5-0 to start a match and give it right back. But it's just been that ebb and flow for us right now."

For more coverage of MCC Athletics, click here: https://www.timesrepublican.com/sports/local-sports/2024/10/tigers-taken-aback-by-northeast/