MOUNT PLEASANT – B.J. Wagy (Sr.-Cedar Rapids, Iowa) and Megan McVey (Jr.-Fort Worth, Texas) combined for 21 kills and the Iowa Wesleyan College volleyball team bounced back from a tough weekend to sweep Knox (Ill.) College in three sets Tuesday night.
The Tigers won their home opener 25-20, 25-14, 25-10, improving to 3-6 on the season in non-conference play. IWC also snapped a five-match losing streak that included four straight losses this past weekend at the USF Empire Bowl Classic in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Wesleyan took control of the match at the start and, with the exception of a spell in the first set, was in control almost the whole way. The Tigers led 10-1 to start the first set and never trailed all night, but the Prairie Fire fought back in the first set to tie the score on three occasions, the final time at 19-19 after a kill by Nina Ricketts.
IWC would score five of the final six points to win the first set, though, and would cruise the rest of the way. The Tigers ran out to big leads in the final two sets, leading by as many as 12 points in the second set and then jumping out to a 10-1 lead in the third set and never looking back.
Iowa Wesleyan posted a .273 hitting percentage for the night that included only 11 hitting errors, including none in the final set when the Tigers had 13 kills in 22 attack attempts. Wagy had 11 kills and zero errors in 16 attempts (.688 hitting percentage), while McVey added 10 kills with just three errors.
Allegra Tennis (Sr.-Madison, Wis.) also had eight kills for IWC. McVey led the team with 14 kills and setter Kendra Zimmerman (Sr.-Green Bay, Wis.) had 29 assists.
Knox was led by Ricketts with seven kills. The Prairie Fire had 20 kills but 22 attack errors and dropped to 3-3 this season.
The Tigers begin Midwest Collegiate Conference play Wednesday night by traveling to Des Moines to face Grand View University at 7 p.m.
For more information regarding the IWC volleyball program or any of the Tiger athletic teams, contact sports information director Adam Glatczak (319-385-6306 phone; 319-385-6384 FAX; aglatczak@iwc.edu e-mail) or log on to IWC's athletics web site at www.iwc.edu/athletics.
Box score IWC 3 Knox 0
