2023 National Tournament Recap | Volleyball
Division I:
HUTCHINSON, Kan. - The Indian Hills Warriors battled to a ninth-place finish at the NJCAA National Tournament after going 3-1 at the event.
After falling in a five-set doozie in Round 1 to Salt Lake, the Warriors rattled off three straight wins to take ninth-place at the 16 team tournament. They won nine consecutive sets to end their season. After losing Set 1 to Daytona State, Indian Hills won three sets against Daytona, Colby and Casper.
The Warriors relied on its go-to sophomore Kinga Michalska as they have throughout the duration of the season to win its final contest of the year. Michalska tallied a match-high 17 kills to surpass the 1,000-career kill milestone. Michalska's 581 kills on the year finished at the top of the national leaderboard among all NJCAA DI Volleyball players this year. She was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Indian Hills now has back-to-back top 10 finishes at the National Tournament after taking fourth place last season.
Indian Hills (3-1):
Round 1 - (4) Salt Lake def. (13) Indian Hills, 3-2 - Box Score
Consolation Round - (13) Indian Hills def. (12) Daytona State, 3-1 - Box Score
Consolation Round - (13) Indian Hills def. Colby, 3-0 - Box Score
Ninth-Place Match - (13) Indian Hills def. (14) Casper, 3-0 - Box Score
Division II:
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Region 11 saw three teams on the bracket come selection day. Both Kirkwood and DMACC earned at-large bids, along with Iowa Central who won the Region 11 Championship and received the automatic bid.
Iowa Central was the highest seed at this year's tournament earning the No. 5 seed in their fourth-consecutive appearance at the National Tournament.
The tournament did not start the way Iowa Central wanted, however. In the opening match, the Tritons fell 3-2 to the No. 12 seed Pensacola State (Fla.), dropping them out of championship contention and into the consolation rounds.
From there, Iowa Central turned it on. They beat Gulf Coast State (Fla.) in another five-setter, then beat DMACC 3-0. The Tritons took down DMACC 3-2 in the Region 11 Tournament as well.
Richard Bland, who had just knocked Kirkwood out of the tournament, was Iowa Central's third and final victim of their consolation run. The Tritons beat Bland 3-1 to advance to the consolation semifinals. Iowa Central's run ended, again, to the hands of Pensacola State, 3-0.
Iowa Central was led by Mercedes Madlock who was named to the All-Tournament Team. The setter had a match high 47 assists against Gulf Coast State. In the five matches she averaged 36.8 assists per match, 9.2 assists per set and 3.35 digs per set. She was one of three setters on the All-Tournament team.
Kirkwood was the No. 7 seed at the National Tournament in which they have participated in every year since 2018 (six in a row). The Eagles won their first match 3-0 over No. 10 seed Heartland (Ill.) to advance to the quarterfinals before a 3-1 defeat by No. 2 seeded Scottsdale (Ariz.).
The Eagles, as mentioned, were eliminated by Richard Bland in Consolation Round 3.
DMACC went 1-2 as well, upsetting No. 6 seed Grand Rapids (Mich.) in the first round 3-2. The Bears then fell to annual power Parkland (Ill.) 3-1 in the quarterfinals and exited after with a loss to Iowa Central.
The Bears capped off a great season reaching their first National Tournament since 2015.
Emma Flathers earned All-Tournament Team. The Bears setter averaged 7.8 assists per set and 2.3 digs per set.
Iowa Central (3-2):
Round 1 - (12) Pensacola State def. (5) Iowa Central, 3-2 - Box Score
Consolation Round 2 - (5) Iowa Central def. (13) Gulf Coast State, 3-2 - Box Score
Consolation Round 3 - (5) Iowa Central def. (11) DMACC, 3-0 - Box Score
Consolation Round 4 - (5) Iowa Central def. (9) Richard Bland, 3-1 - Box Score
Consolation Semifinals - (12) Pensacola State def. (5) Iowa Central, 3-0 - Box Score
Kirkwood (1-2):
Round 1 - (7) Kirkwood def. (10) Heartland, 3-0 - Box Score
Quarterfinal - (2) Scottsdale def. (7) Kirkwood, 3-1 - Box Score
Consolation Round 3 - (9) Richard Bland def. (7) Kirkwood, 3-1 - Box Score
DMACC (1-2):
Round 1 - (11) DMACC def. (6) Grand Rapids 3-2 - Box Score
Quarterfinals - (3) Parkland def. (11) DMACC, 3-1 - Box Score
Consolation Round 3 - (5) Iowa Central def. (11) DMACC, 3-0 - Box Score