Division I Conference Standings
Indian Hills (12-7; 1-1) def. Marshalltown (19-3; 0-2), 3-0
In a highly anticipated matchup, Indian Hills knocked down Marshalltown in Ottumwa in straight sets. Both teams came into the game 0-1 after dropping their first conference matches to Iowa Western. Mariana Rodrigues led the Warriors in kills with 17 and coupled that with 14 digs to finish with a double-double. Amanda Toyota was strong defensively as well, racking up 16 digs of her own.
Marshalltown, despite being swept, battled through each set, scoring 20 or more points in each (20, 25, and 21). Sadie Smith paced the Tigers with 11 kills and Halee Pedro finished with 12 digs. The Tigers hope to rebound against Indian Hills in their next match up, as only the top two finishers in the conference qualify for District play in Missouri on Saturday, Nov. 3.
The next Division I intraconference match will be on Oct. 3 when Indian Hills hosts Iowa Western in a rematch.
Division II Conference Standings
#14 Iowa Central (16-6; 5-0) def. #16 Northeast (11-7; 4-1), 3-1
In the most anticipated conference match of the season, the reigning Region 11 A & B champions faced off in a battle for first place. Both teams entered the night 4-0. With the game in Fort Dodge, Iowa Central held home court advantage. Despite their pre-match edge, Northeast came out and escaped the first set 25-23. But Iowa Central rebounded winning the second set 25-18, then the third 25-23, before rattling off three sets in a row to win 25-18.
A force offensively, the Tritons had four members with 10 or more kills. Libby Zorn led the team with 15 kills while Asarar Gony and Hannah Murray had 12 a piece. Amaya Finely had 10. Setter Abby Lohrmann was dishing out assists and had 43 before it was all over. Additionally, Kryssie Okinaka led the team in digs with 30, of which Iowa Central had 123 as a team.
Iowa Central now sits in first place alone while Northeast is tied for second with Hawkeye.
Northeast will settle in and host NIACC next week while Iowa Central hopes to keep it rolling in Burlington against Southeastern.
#15 Hawkeye (13-3; 4-1) def. #8 Kirkwood(19-4; 3-2), 3-2
Hawkeye continued to impress the ICCAC Division II volleyball landscape after going into Kirkwood and taking three of five sets on Wednesday night. Kirkwood, the highest ranked team in the ICCAC at No. 8 in the DII poll, had only lost three matches coming into the night. The Eagles were in great position to take the RedTails out after leading the match 2-1 heading into the fourth set. With all the momentum seemingly on Kirkwood's side after winning the third set 25-13, Hawkeye rebounded winning the fourth set 25-18 and carried their momentum into the fifth set, which they dominated 15-8.
Kirkwood was led by Alexa Aldrich-Ingram who notched 22 kills. Haleigh Durnin was second on the team with 13 kills. Lauren Keane fed the Eagles attack with 33 assists and also picked up 13 digs.
Hawkeye jumped back up the standings into a tie for second place with Northeast, who fell to Iowa Central, and Kirkwood is now 3-2 tied for fourth with DMACC.
Next week, Kirkwood will try to rebound against Iowa Lakes and Hawkeye will host Southwestern.
Southwestern (9-12; 1-4) def. Southeastern (11-9; 2-3), 3-1
Southwestern came into the match last night against Southeastern winless. Inversely, Southeastern had won their last two conference matches to get back to .500 in conference play. In the end, the Spartans got the best of the Blackhawks in Creston, winning 3-1. Southwestern was led by a balanceed attack, in which four of their players finished with six or seven kills. Lyann Mena Rodriguez made it tough on the Blackhawks offense as she racked up 20 digs on the night for the Spartans.
The match in its entirety was back and forth and highly competitive, with no team winning a set by more than five points. In fact, Southeastern took the first set 25-22 before the Spartans reeled off the next three sets, 28-26, 25-23 and 25-20.
Southwestern will take their momentum to Waterloo and face the Redtails while Southeastern host the conference leader Iowa Central.
#18 DMACC (13-5; 3-2) def. Iowa Lakes (7-19; 1-4), 3-0
DMACC has had a back and forth conference season thus far, but have won their last two matches, including 3-0 last night over Iowa Lakes. DMACC was in control from the get-go, winning the first set 25-19 and winning the next two sets 25-17 and 25-22. Madison Paulsen and Payton Parker, familiar names for the Bears offense, went to work both collecting double-digit kill counts. Gillian Tupper and Calley Schaa shared the passing duties shelling out 17 and 16 assists. And sharing defensive duties were Daiton Martin and Keimoney Lang, who collected 15 digs apiece.
Iowa Lakes on the other side is now on the outside looking in halfway through the 2018 season. They are in a tie for 8th place in a league where only the top 8 advances to the regional tournament.
Next week won't get easier as the Lakers will travel to Kirkwood. DMACC travels up the road to Iowa Falls to face Ellsworth.
NIACC (14-7; 2-3) def. Ellsworth (0-20; 0-5), 3-0
Ellsworth hoped to pick up their first win of the season against NIACC but was unable to do so on Wednesday as the Trojans rolled to a 3-0 match win. The match may have been decided immediately, with NIACC winning the first set 25-6. But Ellsworth fought back and narrowly lost the second set 25-22. NIACC then closed out the match 25-15.
Hannah Wagner scored 17 kills for NIACC and Ashely Groe and Sydney Roush shared the passing duties having 13 and 17 assists each .
NIACC goest to Northeast while Ellsworth hosts DMACC next Wednesday.