The Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) volleyball team came away with four losses in four matches at the Parkland Volleyball Tournament Sept. 22 and 23 at Champaign, Ill.
The Bears dropped 3-2 and 3-1 decisions to Vincennes University (VU) and Illinois Central College (ICC) respectively on Sept. 23 and fell to Owens Community College (OCC) and Lincoln Land Community College (LLCC) by identical 3-1 scores on Sept. 24. The losses give DMACC, ranked 20th in the most recent Division II poll from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), a 9-9 record for the season.
Freshmen Peyton Parker of La Porte City and Madison Paulsen of Council Bluffs had 12 and 10 kills respectively as the Bears fell to VU by scores of 13-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-19, 13-15. DMACC hit .132 in the match, getting 38 kills from 121 attacks with 22 hitting errors. Sophomore Lauren Rieck of Ankeny added eight kills for the Bears.
Freshman Gill Tupper of Nevada had 26 assists in the loss. Freshman Lexi Killinger of Treynor had two ace serves, sophomore Rachael Bair of Braddyville contributed 14 digs and Paulsen came away with 13 digs. Paulsen led DMACC in blocks with five, including four block assists, and Rieck and freshman Brianna Harvey of Dysart finished with three blocks apiece.
Parker had 10 kills and Paulsen finished with eight as the Bears lost to ICC by scores of 19-25, 15-25, 25-16, 22-25. DMACC, which got four kills apiece from Rieck and Harvey, hit .150 with 32 kills coming from 113 attacks with 15 hitting errors.
Tupper led the Bears in assists with 26 and also had two ace serves, as did Paulsen. Bair finished with 15 digs, Tupper had ten and Killinger came away with nine. Rieck topped the team in blocks with three.
Parker had 12 kills, Paulsen finished with 11 and Rieck came away with 10 in DMACC's 25-16, 16-25, 15-25, 19-25 loss to OCC. The Bears hit .127, getting 36 kills coming from 134 attacks with 19 hitting errors.
Sophomore Leiah Paustian of Marshalltown led the team in assists with 30 and Paulsen had 19 digs with Bair getting 16 and Paustian finishing with 15. Rieck had six blocks, including five block assists, and Paustian and Harvey had three blocks apiece.
Paulsen's 15 kills, 13 by Rieck and 10 from Harvey topped DMACC in a 19-25, 15-25, 25-19, 16-25 loss to LLCC. DMACC hit a tournament best .224 in the match, getting 46 kills from 116 attacks with 20 hitting errors.
Paustian had 43 assists in the loss, Killinger finished with a team-high 13 digs and Tupper added 11 digs. Rieck and Harvey led the way in blocks with three apiece.
The DMACC volleyball team returns to Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) play Sept. 27 when the Bears host Iowa Lakes Community College (ILCC). The match begins at 6:30 p.m. inside the DMACC gymnasium. The Bears are 2-1 in league play. ILCC is 4-18 overall and 0-3 in the conference.