LE GRAND — The East Marshall volleyball team opened NICL West Division play on Thursday with a win over South Hardin, 26-24, 25-22, 21-25, 25-21.

Juliana Arifi was by far the offensive leader for the Mustangs (2-4, 1-0), recording 31 kills against the Tigers (0-3, 0-1).

Maria Rasmusson had 41 assists and seven digs, while Genesis Wanatee and Zoeie Fontanini also had seven digs. Karissa Young finished with three aces, followed by Quin Damman and Fontanini with two apiece.

Bobcat harriers compete at Ames meet

AMES — The Marshalltown boys cross country team finished 10th at the Ames Invitational with a score of 281 on the Iowa State University course on Thursday.

Javier Rodriguez was the top finisher for the Bobcats, coming in 40th with a time 18:32. Josh Terrones was next, finishing 51st with a time of 18:53, while Eli Thiessen came in 53rd with a time of 18:56.

The MHS girls didn’t have a complete varsity team at the meet, but Mia Barajas was the top finisher by coming in 45th with a time of 24:22. Jade Tejada and Kaci Uhde followed by placing 53rd and 56th respectively.

MCC netters improve to 7-0 with win

DES MOINES — The Marshalltown Community College volleyball team improved to 7-0 on Thursday with a win over the Grand View University junior varsity, 25-12, 25-20, 25-21.

South Tama County graduate Sadie Smith was the top offensive threat for the Tigers, finishing with 11 kills. Marija Egic followed with 10, while Chiara Mottola had nine and Elena Yee seven.

“We played extremely well in the first set and the score showed it,” MCC head coach Justin Hoskins said. “We did a great job of executing our game plan as well as limiting our mistakes. The girls lost some focus in sets 2 and 3. That combined with Grand View making some adjustments made the second and third sets a lot tighter than they could have been. Hopefully we can correct some tendencies and get ourselves playing a complete match.”

Jelena Dukic was effective in setting once again with 39 assists, while Halee Pedro had 25 digs. Yee and Dukic were also in the double digits in digs with 13 and 10 respectively.

The Tigers have the weekend off and will be back on the court on Tuesday when they host Southwestern Community College for their home opener, starting at 7 p.m.