MOUNT PLEASANT – Waldorf College fought off several match points in the first game and then took over in games two and three to sweep the Iowa Wesleyan College volleyball team Tuesday night in a Midwest Collegiate Conference match at Ruble Arena.
The Tigers had three match points in the opening game but were unable to close the deal and eventually lost 28-26, 25-18, 25-17, dropping to 6-4 overall and 0-2 in the MCC. Waldorf won its conference opener and improved to 9-7 overall.
The Tigers’ performance broke down into halves, with the team hanging right with the defending MCC Tournament champions for the first game and first half of the second game before the Warriors took over the latter part of the match.
Waldorf had 21 kills in the opening game but IWC stayed close, responding after the visitors had put together four points in a row to take an 18-14 lead. Hallie Ostedgaard (Sr.-Iowa City, Iowa) served the Tigers back into a tie at 18 and IWC eventually had match point at 24-23, 25-24 and 26-25. Waldorf came back with kills all three times, though, and Jennifer McLarney finally put the game away for the Warriors to win at 28-26.
The teams went back and forth for the first part of the second game until Waldorf took control with five straight points to take an 18-13 lead. The Tigers never got closer than four the rest of the game. The third game started out with Waldorf scoring the first 10 points. The Tigers crawled back in late to get as close as six points before the Warriors closed the match out with three of the final four points.
Katie Leidl (Jr.-Esterhazy, Saskatchewan) led the Tigers with seven kills. Corrie Wagner (Sr.-Iowa City, Iowa) had 18 digs and Kendra Zimmerman (So.-Green Bay, Wis.) led with 21 assists. The Tigers hit just .068 for the match with 29 kills to 20 errors, and had 16 kills to 14 errors in 85 attempts over the final two games.
Alicia Bata led Waldorf with 13 kills. Andrea Blanchard had 23 digs and Sara Baker had 33 assists. The Warriors hit .185 for the match with 46 kills to 22 errors.
The Tigers return to action this weekend with the Clarke College Tournament starting Friday at 6 and 8 p.m. against Briar Cliff University and Cornerstone (Mich.) University, respectively. The tourney continues with games Saturday against Coe College at noon and Alverno (Wis.) College at 2 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 Waldorf 3 IWC 0
