#6 Eagles Sweep Conference Rivals #9 Iowa Central
The Kirkwood Eagles Volleyball team made their way to Fort Dodge, Iowa for their first conference road test this season, taking on #9 Iowa Central (10-1 entering the night). With their rivalry strengthening the past few seasons, Kirkwood entered a hostile environment.
It may have been a home game for the Tritons, but it was a block party for the Eagles. With 12 blocks (10 block assists, 2 solo blocks from Tegeler and Gaffney) and 50 digs (Lily Van Severan – 15, Sydney Matthias – 12), the Eagle defense generated momentum for the attack and the Eagles swept the Tritons in 3 straight sets to improve their record to 10-1. The #6 team in the country extends their winning streak to 10 games.
The match between both teams saw a lot of stoppage time to clean the floor due to each team's relentless effort to dive for every ball, each player willing to sacrifice their body in order to keep every point alive. In the first set, both teams traded blows. The Eagles were able to beat the Tritons by a narrow margin, 25-23. In the second set, Kirkwood took control early on and didn't look back. The Eagles saw a lead as big as 9 and, despite a late push by the Tritons, Kirkwood won the set, 25-18. For the majority of the third set, both teams mirrored their effort in the first set with relentless defense, often having points get to at least 5 sides and exchanging leads. But the Eagles would prevail, winning 25-19.
Kirkwood saw a balanced attack from all contributing parties against the Tritons. Emma Cross and Makayla Howard saw double-digits kills again with 12 and 11, respectively. Alyssa Tegeler added 6 kills, Ava Morris chipped in 4 kills, Sophie Gaffney put away 3 kills, Emma Meester saw 2 kills go down, and the unlikely attackers, Lily Van Severan (LIB) and Sydney Matthias, both added 1 kill to the stat sheet. Sydney Mattias had another reliable performance with 34 assists.
Kirkwood hosts the Kirkwood Invitational this weekend at Johnson Hall, 2 games on Friday and 2 games on Saturday, where fans will be able to see the best teams in the country compete against one another. On Friday, Kirkwood opens up against #7 Heartland Community College (8-0) at 4:00 PM and ends the day against #4 Parkland College (14-1) at 6:00 PM. Saturday, Kirkwood takes on #17 Lincoln Land Community College (7-1) at 11:00 AM then plays #16 Illinois Central (4-5) at 3:00 PM.
