Tigers get their groove back
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE MCC sophomore outside hitter Morghan Harvey, right, celebrates a successful back row attack during the fourth and final set of Monday’s volleyball win over the William Penn junior varsity. Harvey had a team-high 12 kills for the Tigers.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE MCC freshman Keeley Clarke returns serve during Monday’s non-conference volleyball match against the William Penn junior varsity.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE Marshalltown Community College freshman outside hitter Lillian Mason (4) goes up for the attack against William Penn’s Addison Erickson (15) during the first set of Monday’s volleyball match at the Student Activty Center. Mason had seven kills in the Tigers’ four-set victory.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE MCC sophomore outside hitter Morghan Harvey, right, celebrates a successful back row attack during the fourth and final set of Monday’s volleyball win over the William Penn junior varsity. Harvey had a team-high 12 kills for the Tigers.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE MCC freshman Keeley Clarke returns serve during Monday’s non-conference volleyball match against the William Penn junior varsity.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE Marshalltown Community College freshman outside hitter Lillian Mason (4) goes up for the attack against William Penn’s Addison Erickson (15) during the first set of Monday’s volleyball match at the Student Activty Center. Mason had seven kills in the Tigers’ four-set victory.
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A simple course correction was all the Marshalltown Community College volleyball team needed to get back on track.
The Tigers veered off path with some errant serves, but their service game also paved their way to the finish line.
MCC needed an extra set to score a non-conference victory over the William Penn junior varsity squad on Monday night at the Student Activity Center, prevailing 25-18, 19-25, 25-20, 25-13, to post their second-straight home court victory.
The Tigers (5-4) took plenty of lessons for their loss in the second set and learned from them going forward. After making six service errors in their only defeat, Marshalltown got it turned around in time for a triumphant finish.
MCC chalked up seven service aces in the fourth and final set, including the final point on a serve by Addie Ratcliff.
The Tigers had 17 service aces overall in the match, overcoming their 13 errors in style at the end.
"Serving has been a huge part of our practice, so unfortunately that's something we still have to work on," said MCC head coach Carlee Flack. "That's something I said to them during the games, 'we play well, we get on runs, we get ahead and then we serve the ball in the net.' It's just making sure we take care of the ball, taking that little bit of extra time back there to focus on where we need to put it."
A little bit more focus went a long way to help the Tigers finish off the Statesmen, but it wasn't the only reason MCC pulled away. The Tigers diversified their offense more and more as the match went on, stretching the William Penn defense at the net to isolate the blockers.
And while sophomore outside hitter Morghan Harvey had her usual team-leading night on the attack, it was the success of the rest of the attack that helped MCC take the momentum.
Lillian Mason had three of her seven kills in the fourth set. Stella Remer finished with six kills in the middle, and Amira Cowell came away with five kills.
Harvey, who ranks third in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference with 3.66 kills per set, finished with a team-high 12.
Setter Isabelle Rawlins totaled 27 assists as well as seven of the team's 17 service aces -- four in the fourth set alone.
"We got a lot of hitters involved," said Flack, "and that helped to draw the block, and that's something we've talked about a lot is getting more of a one-on-one situation so that we do have more open options. That is something we did well."
More important than the balanced attack, according to Flack, was the way her team went about its business, especially after the second-set loss.
"I think they played well as a team," she said. "We have a great group of girls, they get along with each other on and off the court, but it's about playing together as a team. Sometimes it looks like there's six players out there, but I feel like tonight we played more as a team."
A flurry of success helped the Tigers take momentum away from a tight contest late in the third set. Leading 20-18, MCC got an ace from Cowell and three of the other four points on kills by Mason to close out the set.
The positive flow carried over into the fourth set as Rawlins scored three aces in MCC's first four points, and two more aces for Harvey had the Tigers out front 12-4.
Harvey led the Tiger defense with seven digs, Keeley Clark and libero Lesly Yismel Valentin Marte had six apiece, and Cowell contributed four. Harvey also had a team-high three blocks and Remer had two more for the hometown team.
"We play again Wednesday at home, so hopefully this gives us confidence moving into another conference game," Flack said ahead of a showdown with Southwestern. "Our conference is full of very competitive teams. We beat them last year but they have a new coach, they have a large roster, so hopefully we can maintain this level that we're at and build on it."