- DMACC opened with 3-2 loss to fourth-ranked Pensacola State College
- Bears fall to St. Clair County Community College in their second match
- DMACC closes tournament with loss to Mott Community College and a win over Kalamazoo Valley Community College
The DMACC volleyball team opened the 2024 season Aug. 24 and 25 at the Opening Weekend Tournament in Rockford, Ill., and dropped three of the four matches it played in the tournament.
The Bears, ranked 11th in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II poll, faced fourth-ranked Pensacola Community College (PCC) and St. Clair County Community College (SCCCC) on Aug. 24 and took both teams to five sets before losing by identical 3-2. Scores. On Aug. 25 DMACC faced Mott Community College (MCC) and Kalamazoo Community College (KCC). The Bears lost to MCC by a 3-0 score before closing tournament play with a 3-2 decision against KCC.
DMACC hit .200 in losing to PCC by set scores of 25-9, 17-25, 20-25, 26-24, 15-12. The Bears collected 55 kills from 170 attacks with 21 hitting errors. Sophomore Abby Brenizer of Norwalk led DMACC with 16 kills and a .387 hitting percentage, getting those 16 kills from 31 attacks with four hitting errors. Freshmen Danica Wrage of Waterloo and Emma Liechti of Ankeny had seven kills apiece and freshman Lily Huizenga of Orange City came away with six.
Sophomore Halia Mahi of Cedar Falls topped the Bears in assists with 49 and Brenizer and freshman Jaelynne Clarke of Alliance, Neb., each contributed a pair of ace serves.
DMACC got a team-high 26 digs from sophomore Lexie Lane of Renwick. Clarke finished with 20 digs, freshman Lauren Sandvold of Cedar Falls had 19 and Mahi and sophomore Emma Jones of Readlyn had 15 and 10 respectively. Liechti led the Bears in blocks with five, including three block assists, and Brenizer, Huizenga and sophomore Aquarina Thomas of Tucson, Ariz., had two block assists apiece.
Clarke had 10 kills, four ace serves and 24 digs in the Bears' 16-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-20, 15-10 loss to SCCCC. Brenizer and Thomas added nine kills apiece and Liechti finished with eight as DMACC hit .257 with 50 kills from 144 attacks and 13 hitting errors.
Mahi topped the Bears in assists with 34 and Mahi and Lane added 18 and 14 digs respectively. Liechti finished with nine block assists and sophomore Maggie Johnston of Boone and Wrage had five and four block assists respectively.
MCC extended DMACC's losing streak to three with a 25-21, 25-22, 25-22 victory. Brenizer's nine kills and eight apiece from Clarke and Huizenga led the Bears in hitting. They hit .171 with 41 kills from 129 attacks and 19 hitting errors.
Freshman Sydney Anderson of Marshalltown and Mahi had 19 and 18 assists respectively and Sandvold paced the Bears in digs with 21. Lane added 16 digs, Clarke had 12 and Anderson finished with 10. Clarke, Brenizer and Liechti had two block assists apiece.
Thomas had 13 kills and Brenizer and Huizenga added 10 apiece as DMACC got its first win of the season with a 3-2 decision against KCC. Set scores were 19-25, 25-14, 25-16, 17-25, 15-10. The Bears hit .200 with 51 kills from 165 attacks and 18 hitting errors.
Anderson came away with 46 assists and three ace serves and Lane added two ace serves.
Lane paced DMACC in digs with 34. Clarke and Anderson had 19 apiece, Sandvold came away with eight and Jones finished with 12. Clarke and Liechti had three block assists apiece and Brenizer added two.
The DMACC volleyball team will face Indian Hills Community College (IHCC) today at Ottumwa. IHCC, an NJCAA Division II program, is 3-1 and is ranked ninth in NJCAA Division I.
Bears are 1-3 after tournament play
