No. 13 Eagles enjoy Sophomore Night
Thursday, 18 October 2018 04:48 Jim Ecker MSR -
Brittney Harris (left) and Abbi Tunis of Kirkwood join forces to block a shot during Wednesday night's match against Ellsworth at Johnson Hall. (MSR photo by Margaret O'Banion)
Mission accomplished.
The 13th-ranked Eagles rolled by Ellsworth, 25-10, 25-13, 25-12, on a night when their graduating sophomores got to take center stage with their parents and family.
"We had some fun with it and I thought we played pretty good volleyball," said Coach Jill Williams.
The Eagles raised their records to 29-7 overall and 5-3 in the ICCAC Conference with one match left in the regular season. Kirkwood will begin the regional tournament on the road on Saturday, Oct. 27 with hopes of reaching the national tournament, even though the path could be filled with several ranked teams.
"I think you can see by our overall record, we've been competing with whoever," said Williams. "I'm good with whoever we're playing."
The seedings and pairings for the regional tournament will be determined next week after the Eagles visit 20th-ranked Northeast (Neb.) next Tuesday.
Abbi Tunis led Kirkwood with 10 kills and seven blocks. Alexa Aldrich-Ingram had nine blocks, Maddie Huff eight, Sami Johnson seven and Hannah Huss five. Lauren Keane dished out 28 assists. Chloe McNeese had 13 digs. Haleigh Durnin missed the match with an injury, but Williams expects her back in action next week.
Ellsworth fell to 2-29 overall and 0-8 in the conference.