Breaking News
Local Sports

Tigers tipped by Hawks in home opener

By Ross Thede 5 min read

The good habits developed in practice have to carry over to the court in order for the Marshalltown Community College volleyball team to be successful, but it's more about communicating than the edicts themselves.

MCC head coach Carlee Flack found her team to be just a bit too quiet to carry the day against a good Northeast team on Wednesday at the Student Activity Center.

The host Tigers were in every game but couldn't claim enough of them in a 3-1 loss in their home opener to the Hawks, falling 25-22, 25-21, 19-25, 25-21 in Iowa Community College Athletic Conference play.

Marshalltown (3-3, 0-2) was in position to take advantage of the opportunities presented them, Flack said, but the Tigers got caught watching the moments pass them by because of a lack of communication.

"We tend to get a little bit quiet," said Flack. "Even when we know who's going to get the ball, I think it's still talking -- talking (about) what we're seeing from their offense and just calling it out. That's gonna keep everybody in the game, that's gonna keep us running effective offense, seeing the defensive side of it and being able to push through those things.

"It's overemphasizing it, even when it feels silly to talk about something that you already know is a given, but that just creates more communication and keeps everybody in the match."

The Tigers had Northeast (5-3, 1-1) backed up against the wall in the first two sets before finally knocking the Hawks off their perch in the third. MCC hit at a .257 efficiency during the third set, limiting errors and getting the ball where it needed to be thanks to better passing. On-target passing made it easier for setter Isabelle Rawlins to distribute the ball, and the Tigers took advantage.

"We got multiple hitters active in the game," Flack said. "We adjusted when a block was put up against us and we were able to use some of our other shots that we had, even though they weren't flashy kills in the match. They stopped momentum for the other team.

"That was the biggest thing, just getting everybody going and moving the ball around."

It was a necessity, too, after the way Northeast's block turned out in the first two sets. The Hawks, who rank fourth out of 14 teams in the ICCAC's Division II, average 1.76 blocks per set and represented their standing at the net on Wednesday night.

"They have some very tall middles and they move pretty effectively along the net," Flack said. "We talked about spreading the net because they're great blockers too, so making them work on their end was important for us."

MCC led 8-1 in the third set before Northeast fought back to within 14-12. The Tigers slowly pulled away from there, taking a 24-18 lead and finishing off the win 25-19.

Defense drove the rally, too, as the Hawks had seven more attack attempts during the set but one fewer kill than the Tigers.

The victory didn't create enough of a spark to start a comeback, however, as MCC struggled to control the ball in the fourth set and fell behind from the outset. Northeast led 9-5 before Flack took her first timeout, and it was 22-19 Hawks when she used her second.

Marshalltown pushed back but couldn't outscore the Hawks, falling 3-1 in front of a strong hometown crowd.

"This was great, a lot of energy, so we were excited about this," Flack said of the home opener. "We are excited about this team this year. We have a lot of great girls, and we're very athletic on the court as well, so we were excited to put that in front of our home crowd."

The only familiar face back from last season's roster, Morghan Harvey, led the Tigers in kills in the match. Ranking fourth in the ICCAC at 3.42 kills per set, Harvey had 18 to pace MCC's attack. Lillian Mason and Amira Cowell added seven apiece, Stella Remer had six, while Rawlins and Addie Ratcliff had three each. Rawlins finished with 27 assists.

Defensively, Cowell came away with 19 digs, Harvey had 18 and Valentina Arosti added 17. Ratcliff was credited with five blocks and Harvey three. Keeley Clarke accounted for three of MCC's seven service aces.

Northeast's offense was led by Ava Kasik, who had 13 kills. Mallory Springer got nine kills, while Alli Brown, Skyler Siebrandt and Rowan O'Keefe had seven apiece. Northeast's middles -- O'Keefe and Siebrandt -- had four and three blocks, respectively.

"They move pretty effectively along the net and we expected that," Flack said. "It was adjusting our defense to that, but credit to Northeast because they passed awesome. Those first two sets, they were getting every ball right to the setter. Obviously that's a good team, a team that can just move on past an error."

Marshalltown goes back out on the road for its next match Tuesday against Iowa Valley Community College District rival Ellsworth, but the Tigers follow that with three-straight home games.

"This is a great group of girls and I'm very confident that moving forward in the season we are going to only capitalize on things," Flack said.

Starting at /week.