The Marshalltown Community College volleyball team took to the court for the first time this season against a squad whose only loss in six previous contests was to the second-ranked team in the nation.

Wednesday’s home opener for the Tigers did end in defeat to Southeastern, but it sure wasn’t a total loss.

The MCC volleyball team fell in three sets in its season debut, falling to the visiting Blackhawks 25-21, 25-16, 25-14 inside the Student Activity Center.

Southeastern improved to 6-1 with its fourth straight-set sweep of the season. The Blackhawks’ only loss so far was on Saturday at No. 2 Johnson County CC.

MCC provided plenty of challenge early, but the Tigers couldn’t catch up after an early five-point push by Southeastern gave the Blackhawks the lead for good.

“We were right there with them,” said Tigers interim head coach Carlee Flack. “Neck and neck. Point for point. That was the fun one. We were able to build off that and know what we can do with teams, so I think that’s the most important thing.”

The Tigers fought off a pair of set points in the opener, including a stunning dump-over by freshman setter Olivia Maddux to make it 24-21, but Southeastern scored the game-ending point shortly thereafter.

Maddux is one of three members of the MCC squad who played their high school volleyball in the area. Maddy Wiese (South Tama) and Callie Swanson (BCLUW) also play for the Tigers, who welcomed a large home crowd to the stands for the season opener.

The stout challenge by MCC carried over into some momentum for the second set, and the Tigers eventually took their first lead of the match. It was short-lived, sure, but it was an encouraging moment for their first time on the court competitively.

“A lot of these teams that we’re going to see have already played six matches, and we’re just coming into it,” said Flack. “They’re a good team. They had a lot of depth.”

MCC scored three points in a row to take their first lead of the match. Freshman outside hitter Morghan Harvey (Des Moines Roosevelt) had back-to-back kills and freshman setter Addy Stull added a service ace to make it 6-5 Tigers early in the second set.

An unfortunate bounce or two stole Marshalltown’s momentum. Southeastern’s Leyra Ruiz Millayes was blocked at the net, but the bounding ball boinked off her head and fell to the Tigers’ court as celebration of the block began prematurely.

Millayes went back to serve for the next point, which the Blackhawks got when her serve scraped the top of the next and stumbled over for an indefensible ace.

Southeastern got out to a 9-6 lead before MCC reeled them back in to tie at 9-all, including two more kills for Harvey and service ace by Wiese.

The Blackhawks regained the lead and never lost it again the rest of the night, including a seven-point surge that made it 19-11 in the second set. MCC withstood four set points, however, as Kaylee LaPlant (Janesville) scored out of the middle, Stull stuffed an overpass at the net, Imigyn Stratton tallied a kill and Harvey terminated another overpass by the Blackhawks.

An attack error ended the Tigers’ comeback in the second set, and Southeastern stole all the momentum by scoring the first four points of the third. MCC got no closer than three points the rest of the way.

“I was most looking forward to seeing just how they would play through adversity,” said Flack. “I thought we did a good job with that. We stayed in there, everybody was playing together as a team, so that was the most important thing.”

Aviana West racked up eight kills to lead Southeastern, Millayes had seven, while Jacque Adair and Taryn Havener had five apiece.

For MCC, Harvey was the attacking leader with 11 kills to go with one of the team’s three service aces. LaPlant pitched in with six kills, Stull had five, and Maddux had three. Stratton and Violet Hougland had one apiece.

Wiese and Harvey both had service aces, while Maddux had the team’s only block.

“I think we’re just still finding those connections, working with those people that are next to each other in the rotation,” Flack said. “You can practice it a lot, but you don’t know until you see it out on the court.”

The Tigers have a week off before their next contest, traveling to face Northeast CC on Wednesday, Sept. 3, in Norfolk, Neb.