Conference Recap | ICCAC Week 1

In four sets of play Kirkwood came out on top but it wasn't always easy. The Eagles won 25-15 in the first, 25-20 in the third and 26-24 in the fourth. 

Northeast used home court advantage to help take the second set 25-20, but it would not be enough in the third and fourth where they fell short of forcing the Eagles into a fifth set. However, the Hawks were just a couple points of forcing a deciding set -- showing that they are right there to compete against ranked NJCAA Division II opponents.

Kirkwood was led by Kaci Johnson with 14 kills, 24 assists and 13 digs. Three other players also registered double-digit kills, Josie Bryan and Ava Harris-Shepard each had twelve while Marissa Cahoy had 13. On defense, Lily VanServern played great with 31 digs out of the Eagles 90 total for the night.

The Hawks were led by Shaylyn Safranek who recorded 12 kills and 20 assists. Following Safranek, Daveigh Munter-McAfee and Jayda Christensen tallied eight and six kills respectively. Defensively, the Hawks had four players reach double-digit digs; Katy Jones led the way with 26 followed by Mya Hedstrom with 16, Jayden Bestenlehner with 11 and Safranek with 10. 

Kirkwood's next conference opponent will be Ellsworth in Cedar Falls and Northeast will stay at home to face Southwestern.