MOUNT PLEASANT – Iowa Wesleyan College nearly came all the way back from losing its first two games, but Clarke College fought off the Tigers’ best efforts for a 3-2 win in the teams’ Midwest Collegiate Conference volleyball season opener Wednesday night at Ruble Arena.
The Crusaders won the opening two games of the match by scores of 25-21 and 25-19 before IWC came battling back to win the next two games by scores of 25-18 and 25-16. The Tigers took a lead in the deciding game before Clarke scored 10 of the final 13 points for a 15-11 win.
Clarke improved to 7-1 overall this season by regaining its hitting touch late. The Crusaders posted a .256 hitting percentage in the first two games but fell off to a negative percentage over the next two games. The visitors came back in the fifth game, hitting .278 with eight kills and just three errors in 18 attempts.
The Tigers (6-3 overall) had their chance in the fifth game, taking an 8-5 lead. After the teams switched sides, though, Clarke scored three straight points to get back into it. The Crusaders also took advantage of three IWC service errors in the late going and finished the match with four of the final five points.
Iowa Wesleyan got several standout individual performances in the match. Freshman Megan McVey (Fort Worth, Texas) posted 14 kills and did not have a hitting error until late in the fourth game. McVey in particular came alive in the middle of the match, with a number of kills late in the third game including the final one after a 44 touch rally that finished off the third game.
Katie Jammer (So.-Green Bay, Wis.) added 11 kills while Katie Leidl (Jr.-Esterhazy, Saskatchewan) and B.J. Wagy (So.-Cedar Rapids, Iowa) both had nine kills each. Kendra Zimmerman (So.-Green Bay, Wis.) had 44 assists to go along with 16 digs, while Corrie Wagner (Sr.-Iowa City, Iowa) led the team with 24 digs from the libero spot. McVey, Leidl and Hallie Ostedgaard (Sr.-Iowa City, Iowa) also all reached double figures in digs as IWC posted 93 digs in the match.
Ashley Shields led the Crusaders with 19 kills while Abby Nauman added 12. Erin Scheiber had 39 assists and tied teammate Tina Zielinski for her squad’s lead in digs with 24.
The Tigers have the weekend off before returning to conference play Tuesday against Waldorf College. Match time at Ruble Arena will be 7 pm.
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 Clarke 3 IWC 2
