- Sophomores Coryl Matheny and Zophi Hendricks have 16 kills apiece in 3-2 loss
- DMACC resume includes victories over two higher-ranked nonqualifying team
- Bears advance to championship match with 3-1 win over Ellsworth CC
The DMACC volleyball team dropped a 3-2 decision to Iowa Central Community College (ICCC) in the championship match of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XI Volleyball Tournament November 5 inside the DMACC gymnasium.
Set scores were 30-28, 17-25, 8-25, 25-22, 5-15.
DMACC, which fell to 28-10, remains hopeful of receiving an at-large invitation to the NJCAA Division II Volleyball Championship Nov. 15 to 18 at Cedar Rapids. Four teams will receive invitations and DMACC's resume includes victories over Heartland Community College (HCC) and Kirkwood Community College (KCC), two ranked teams that did not earn automatic berths to the national tournament. The Bears are ranked 11th in the NJCAA Division II poll, HCC is ranked 10th and KCC is ranked fourth.
At large invitees to the tournament will be announced later this week.
Sophomores Coryl Matheny of Glenwood and Zophi Hendricks of Defiance keyed DMACC's effort against ICCC with 16 kills apiece. Sophomore Eden Wilson of Conrad contributed six kills and sophomore Monica Mirembe of Ankeny had five.
DMACC hit .164 in the loss, getting 47 kills from 183 attacks with 17 hitting errors.
Sophomore Emma Flathers of Treynor led the Bears in assists with 41 and had two ace serves. Sophomore Jerica Heintz of Polk City joined Flathers with two ace serves and sophomore Kenya Prescott of Carroll led four players in double figures in digs with 26. Matheny finished with 19 digs, sophomore Maddie Dunham of Nevada had 13, Heintz contributed 12 and Flathers came away with 10. Mirembe had four blocks, including three block assists.
DMACC advanced to the championship match behind a 3-1 win over Ellsworth Community College (ECC) November 4, also inside the DMACC gymnasium.
Set scores were 25-20, 15-25, 25-18, 25-12.
Hendricks led the Bears with 11 kills and Matheny added seven. Mirembe and freshman Abbi Brenizer of Norwalk finished with six apice. The Bears hit .218 in the win, getting 39 kills from 124 attacks with 12 hitting errors.
Flathers topped DMACC in assists with 32 and Heintz and Matheny had four and three ace serves respectively. Prescott came away with 31 digs, Flathers had 18 and Matheny and Dunham finished with 13 and 12 respectively. Mirembe topped the Bears in blocks with 10, including nine block assists, and Matheny and Hendricks had five blocks apiece, including four block assists by Matheny and five from Hendricks.
