The Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) volleyball team came away with three victories in four matches in the Battle for the Dells Tournament August 25 and 26 at Wisconsin Dells, Wis.
The Bears, ranked 11th in the most recent Division II poll from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), defeated Madison College (MC), 3-1, Aug. 25 in their tournament opener before dropping a 3-0 decision to third-ranked Owens Community College (OCC), also on Aug. 25. DMACC then defeated 19th-ranked Muskegon Community College (MCC), 3-0, and Macomb Community College (MCC), 3-0, in a pair of matches on Aug. 26 to improve to 3-2 for the season.
Freshman Madison Paulsen of Council Bluffs had 12 kills and sophomore Lauren Rieck of Ankeny finished with 10 to lead the Bears to a 25-21, 22-25, 25-11, 25-20 win over Madison Community College in their tournament debut. Freshman Peyton Parker of La Porte City had eight kills as DMACC hit .148 in the match. The Bears had 37 kills from 108 attacks with 21 hitting errors.
Sophomore Leiah Paustian of Marshalltown had 34 assists in the win, Paulsen contributed two ace serves and Parker and freshman Madeline Wagner of Carroll finished with two ace serves apiece. Freshman Gill Tupper of Nevada led DMACC in digs with 17 and sophomore Rachael Bair of Braddyville and Paulsen had 12 and 11 digs respectively. Freshman Lacey Clark of Bettendorf topped DMACC in blocks with five, Rieck had four and Bair and freshman Brianna Harvey of Dysart had three apiece.
Rieck had nine kills, Paulsen came away with eight and Parker finished with six in DMACC's 25-13, 25-16, 25-12 loss to OCC. The Bears hit .186 in the loss, getting 29 kills from 70 attacks with 16 hitting errors. Paustian led the way in assists with 28 and Tupper topped DMACC in digs with six. Rieck contributed a pair of blocks.
Thirteen kills from Rieck, 11 by Paulsen and nine from Parker helped the Bears to a 25-17, 27-25, 25-17 win over Muskegon Community College. DMACC had its best hitting match of the tournament, getting 40 kills from 53 attacks with 13 hitting errors for a .509 hitting percentage. Paustian dished out 37 assists in the win, Wagner contributed three ace serves and Tupper led the way in digs with 18. Bair came away with 11 digs and Harvey led the Bears in blocks with eight, including four solo blocks.
Rieck had eight kills and Paulsen finished with seven as DMACC closed out tournament play with a 25-10, 25-14, 25-22 win over Macomb Community College. The Bears finished with a .415 hitting percentage, getting 30 kills from 41 attacks with 13 hitting errors. Paustian finished with a team-high 27 assists and Parker had 11 digs with Paulsen getting eight. Tupper collecting seven digs and Paustian finishing with six. Rieck had four blocks in the win and Paustian, Paulsen and Harvey had three blocks apiece.
The DMACC volleyball team will open Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) play against Kirkwood Community College (KCC) Aug. 30 at Cedar Rapids. The Eagles, the defending ICCAC champions, are 4-1 on the season and ranked seventh in NJCAA Division II.