• DMACC opens tournament with a 3-0 loss to third-ranked Parkland College
• Bears defeat Lake Michigan Community College, Morton College and Wabash Valley College
• DMACC faces Southwestern Community College on September 24

The DMACC volleyball team improved to 9-9 for the season after winning three of four matches in the Parkland Tournament September 20 and 21 at Champaign, Ill.

The Bears opened tournament play with a 3-0 loss to Parkland College (PC), the No. 3 team in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II poll, on Sept. 20 and followed the loss with consecutive 3-0 wins over Lake Michigan Community College (LMCC) on Sept. 20 and Morton College (MC) and Wabash Valley College (WVC) on Sept. 21.

PC defeated the Bears by set scores of 25-16, 25-14, 25-16. Sophomore Abbi Brenizer of Norwalk led DMACC with eight kills and a .467 hitting percentage, getting those eight kills from 15 attacks with one hitting error. Freshman Jaelynne Clarke, of Alliance, Neb., had six kills, sophomore Aquarina Thomas of Tucson, Ariz., had five and freshman Lily Huizenga of Orange City added four. DMACC hit .150 in the match with 26 kills from 100 attacks with 11 hitting errors.

Sophomore Halia Mahi of Cedar Falls led the Bears in assists with 11 and sophomore Emma Jones of Readlyn topped DMACC in digs with 12. Clarke and freshman Sydney Anderson of Marshalltown had 11 digs apiece and freshman Lauren Sandvold of Cedar Falls came away with 10. Freshman Emma Liechti of Ankeny had four block assists and freshman Danica Wrage of Waterloo had three.

DMACC defeated LMCC by set scores of 25-16, 25-18, 25-18. Thomas had 11 kills in the win and Brenizer came away with 10 behind a .471 hitting percentage. Her 10 kills came from 17 attacks with two hitting errors. DMACC, which got six kills apiece from Clarke and Liechti, hit .293 with 40 kills from 99 attacks with 11 hitting errors.

Mahi led the Bears in assists with 31 and Jones contributed three ace serves with Sandvold getting two.

Sophomore Lexie Lane of Renwick came away with a team-high 17 digs. Jones had 15 and Clarke and Mahi finished with 12 apiece. Brenizer and Liechti led DMACC in blocks with three apiece, including two block assists apiece.

Brenizer hit .500 with 12 kills as the Bears handed MC a 25-15, 25-17, 25-16 loss. Brenizer got her 12 kills from 20 attacks with two hitting errors. Thomas added nine kills, Clarke finished with six and Liechti had five as DMACC hit .305 in the win with 40 kills from 105 attacks with eight hitting errors.

Mahi led the Bears in assists with 20 and Clarke added two ace serves and had a team-high 24 digs. Jones had 21 digs and Brenizer, Liechti and Clarke had two block assists apiece.

Clarke had 11 kills, Brenizer and Thomas finished with eight apiece and Liechti added six as DMACC closed its tournament play with a 25-19, 25-8, 25-13 win over WVC. Brenizer hit .667, Liechti hit .600, Clarke hit .321 and Thomas hit .318 as the Bears compiled a .365 hitting percentage in the win. They had 40 kills from 96 attacks with five hitting errors.

Mahi had a team-high 31 assists and Jones contributed a pair of ace serves and a team-high 19 digs. Clarke, Sandvold and Lane finished with 13 digs apiece and Liechti topped DMACC in blocks with four, including three block assists. Brenizer added three block assists.

The DMACC volleyball team returns to Iowa Community College Athletic Conference play Sept. 24 when the Bears face Southwestern Community College (SWCC) at Creston. DMACC is 2-1 in the ICCAC. SWCC is 3-10 overall and 0-3 in the ICCAC