- Sophomores Coryl Matheny and Eden Wilson lead Bears with 13 kills apiece
- Sophomore Emma Flathers has 41 assists and nine digs
- DMACC will face third-seeded Parkland College in the quarterfinals
Sophomores Coryl Matheny of Glenwood and Eden Wilson of Conrad had 13 kills apiece as the DMACC volleyball team upset sixth-seeded Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) in the first round of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) 2023 Division II Volleyball Championship November 15 at Cedar Rapids.
The Bears, seeded 11th, won by set scores of 25-14, 25-17, 20-25, 19-25, 15-11 to improve to 29-10 for the season. The win ended the Raiders' 24-match winning streak.
DMACC hit .367 in taking the first set, getting 13 kills from 30 attacks with just two hitting errors and the Bears hit .273 in the second set with 13 kills from 33 attacks with four hitting errors. The hitting dropped off in the next two sets, .119 in the third set and .053 in the fourth set as GRCC came away with wins, but DMACC rallied with a .300 hitting percentage in the fifth and deciding set. The Bears had eight kills from 20 attacks with just two hitting errors in that set.
Sophomore Zophi Hendricks of Defiance had 11 kills and sophomore Monica Mirembe of Ankeny and freshman Abbi Brenizer of Norwalk came away with seven apiece for DMACC, which hit .202 in the match, getting 56 kills from 163 attacks with 23 hitting errors.
Sophomore Emma Flathers of Treynor topped DMACC in assists with 41 and also had nine digs. Sophomore Kenya Prescott of Carroll led the Bears in digs with 20 and Matheny finished with 18. Sophomore Jerica Heintz of Polk City joined Flathers with nine digs.
The DMACC volleyball team will face third-seeded Parkland College in the quarterfinals. Match time is 7:30 p.m. today inside the Alliant Energy Powerhouse Arena. The two met once during the regular season, that coming in the Parkland Tournament Oct. 29 at Champaign, Ill. PC came away with a 3-1 victory on set scores of 25-20, 25-17, 22-25, 25-11.
The DMACC-PC winner will face either second-seeded Scottsdale Community College (SCC) or seventh-seeded Kirkwood Community College (KCC) in the semifinals on Nov. 17. The DMACC-PC loser moves to the consolation bracket where it can still finish as high as third place.
The double-elimination tournament continues through Nov. 18 at Alliant Energy Powerhouse Arena in Cedar Rapids.