MOUNT PLEASANT – Katie Leidl (Jr.-Esterhazy, Saskatchewan) led Iowa Wesleyan College in kills and digs as the Tigers defeated Mount Mercy College in four sets for their first Midwest Collegiate Conference win this season.
The Tigers defeated the Mustangs 25-19, 25-17, 11-25, 25-21 in their final regular season home match of the season as well as Senior Night for five IWC players. Wesleyan improved to 1-5 in the MCC and 11-16 overall, while the Mustangs are now 0-6 in conference, 7-25 overall.
While seniors Bonnie Hahn (Iowa City, Iowa), Nicole Orth (Burlington, Iowa), Hallie Ostedgaard (Iowa City, Iowa), Missie Simmons (Russell, Iowa) and Corrie Wagner (Iowa City, Iowa) were all honored before the match, it turned out to be several underclassmen coming up biggest Wednesday night. Leidl had 13 kills and 15 digs, leading the team in both categories and seemingly coming up with a big kill or block every time the Tigers needed to create some distance from the visitors.
B.J. Wagy (So.-Cedar Rapids, Iowa) also had 12 kills and added four blocks, and with just two hitting errors finished with a .455 hitting percentage. Freshman Megan McVey (Fort Worth, Texas) also added eight kills and five blocks, including three solo blocks in the decisive final set.
The Tigers led almost from the start in winning the first set, never leading by less than two points after breaking a 3-3 tie to take the lead. The second set started off tougher until Katie Jammer (So.-Green Bay, Wis.) served six straight points and IWC scored 10 of 11 points midway through to take a 20-11 lead on the way to cruising to a 2-0 lead in the match.
An ugly third set saw the Mustang blockers slow up the Tigers temporarily, with Mount Mercy getting six blocks and Wesleyan posting 10 hitting errors in an easy win for MMC. IWC regained control quickly in the fourth set, though, leading from start to finish to close out the match.
Kendra Zimmerman (So.-Green Bay, Wis.) set the offense with 39 assists, while Wagner added 14 digs and Hahn had five blocks. Maddie Franz led the Mustangs with 18 kills.
The Tigers will close out the regular season with a pair of conference road matches, starting next Wednesday against Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. Match time is 7 p.m. Both the Tigers and V-Hawks will be participating in the Dig Pink breast cancer awareness program that night, with both teams wearing pink shirts and raising money in the fight against breast cancer.
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 MMC 1
