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Tigers tipped by Spartans in 5

By Ross Thede 4 min read

The Marshalltown Community College volleyball team was on the verge of back-to-back wins at home, but the Tigers couldn't finish it off.

Southwestern rallied from two games down to defeat MCC 3-2 on Wednesday night at the Student Activity Center, taking the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference clash by scores of 23-25, 16-25, 25-19, 25-19, 17-15.

The visiting Spartans (7-7, 2-3) improved to 3-0 this season in matches to go five sets, while the Tigers (5-5, 1-4) were ousted in their first full-length tilt.

After playing some of their best volleyball of the season to come from behind to win the opening game and then breezing to a Game 2 triumph, Marshalltown rarely led in Games 3 and 5.

Southwestern leaned on 6-foot freshman middle hitter Sadie Cox down the stretch, and her dominant play propeled the Spartans to victory.

"We recognized that too, and that's why we had our middle blocker just following her, sitting on the ball, and (Cox) came alive those last three sets unfortunately," said MCC head coach Carlee Flack. "That did a lot for them."

Cox finished with team-highs of 17 kills and six blocks for the Spartans, who won their last match against Ellsworth in five-set fashion as well.

MCC's hitting percentage declined after the second set, too, showing the Tigers' lack of experience in going the distance.

"I really think in the first two sets, that's the volleyball that we know we can play," Flack said, "but we started falling back into our old ways, not communicating as much."

The Tigers' scored the first point of Game 3 but didn't lead again until scoring the first three points of the fourth set. MCC held the advantage at 14-12 before a five-point surge by the Spartans pulled all of the momentum to their side of the net.

Southwestern used an 8-2 run to close out the fourth set and fired out to an 8-3 edge in the deciding fifth set.

The Tigers took a timeout to collect themselves and eventually regained the lead, 11-10, despite a pair of service errors. Four different players scored on the attack during MCC's 7-2 rally, and a Morghan Harvey kill had Marshalltown in front 13-12.

Maddie Richter tallied a kill to get the serve back for the Spartans at 13-all, and Cox was there to stuff Harvey on MCC's next attack attempt. A net violation on Cox evened things again at 14-all, and a change-up from Harvey fooled the Spartan defense for a 15-14 lead.

Ava Sales, Southwestern's leading attacker, split the MCC block for the tying kill, and the Spartans stuffed the Tigers' next two swings at the net to close out the match.

"I had taken a timeout there (at 14-13) and my thing was to know your blockers," Flack said, "because (Cox) can also block really well. And I think we had back-to-back attacks and we hit straight into the block. It really comes down to being able to adjust on our end, making sure that we are seeing the block and hitting around the block or using some other options."

Sales finished with 11 kills and three blocks for Southwestern, while Addison Martin had eight kills and three blocks and Richter added six kills. Madelyn Wilson totaled five kills and six blocks, too, for the Spartans.

Harvey ended with a match-high 21 kills to lead the Tigers, Stella Remer had 13 and Lillian Mason 12. Amira Cowell chipped in eight kills and Addie Ratcliff had five. Setter Isabelle Rawlins totaled 56 assists.

Cowell had three of MCC's six service aces, while three players -- Keeley Clark, Lesly Yismel Valentin Marte, and Harvey -- led the defense with 16 digs apiece.

"We came out and won the first two and I felt like we kind of played a little bit more relaxed the third set," Flack said. "That's why you keep up the intensity. They have great hitters and they started finding their rhythm after that second set.

"We missed some points that we shouldn't have, so obviously that comes back to get you. That was a game we wanted to win."

Marshalltown moves on in ICCAC play to face Southeastern on Wednesday, Sept. 23, in West Burlington.

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