Volleyball Drops Five Set Conference Match
MASON CITY, IA – The Tiger volleyball team returned to conference action on Wednesday night, falling 3-2 (25-18, 16-25, 25-20, 23-25, 5-15) to NIACC. With the loss, the Tigers are now 6-15 on the year and 1-2 in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference while the Trojans improve to 7-12 overall and 1-2 in conference play.
Sophomore Mady Van Metre (Marshalltown, IA) earned her sixth double-double of the year with 15 kills and 17 digs. Sophomore Tanya Literski (Athens, WI) also achieved a double-double, her tenth of the season, with 36 assists and 16 digs.
The Tigers used a serving run by Literski in the opening set down 12-13, to take the lead 18-13. Literski recorded two of her team high three aces in the run. MCC closed out the set with back-to-back kills by Van Metre. Van Metre hit seven of her team high fifteen kills in the set to lead the Tigers.
MCC jumped out to an early 4-2 lead in game two, but were unable to maintain the momentum. The Tigers were out hit in the second set -.033 to .281, committing nine hitting errors on thirty attempts.
MCC took the third set, 25-20 behind the defensive play of Freshmen Ashley Salgado (Ottumwa, IA). Salgado recorded eight digs and one ace serve in the set to give the Tigers a 2-1 advantage.
The Tigers were unable to maintain the momentum in games four and five as they were out hit by NIACC in each set. MCC had nineteen hitting errors in the final two sets, compared to just six for the Trojans.
Defensively, five Tigers had double-figure digs, led by twenty six from Salgado, who also had two aces to her credit. Freshmen Alyssa Whitmore (Le Grand, IA) added seventeen digs of her own. MCC was out-blocked 0-17 on the evening, leaving a big gap in their defensive.
"It becomes difficult to go swing for swing with a team, when your going up against a solid block," head coach Chris Brees commented. "We need to become stronger with our block and work to make better hitting choices against our opposition, we let too many easy plays go tonight."
MCC returns to action on Wednesday, October 3, hosting Southwestern Community College. Match time is set for 7 pm at the Student Activities Center.