LA CROSSE, WIS. – The Iowa Wesleyan College volleyball team threw another scare into a Midwest Collegiate Conference power, but Viterbo University took control in the final two sets to defeat the Tigers in four sets on Wednesday night.
The teams split the first two sets before the V-Hawks won the final two for a 25-19, 20-25, 25-15, 25-21 victory. Viterbo stayed in contention for a share of the MCC regular season championship, improving to 5-2 in the conference (28-13 overall) while the Tigers dropped to 1-6 in the league but were competitive again against one of the top teams in the league.
IWC made the V-Hawks sweat in the early going, staying within striking distance throughout the first set and taking advantage of 12 hitting errors by Viterbo in the second set to even up the match. The Tigers kept points alive with solid defense and put up a strong block, putting themselves in position to win even while hitting just .068 for the match.
The Tigers also took a 5-1 lead early in the third set as Corrie Wagner (Sr.-Iowa City, Iowa) served four straight points, but the V-Hawks ralled from that point on. Viterbo scored 21 of the next 26 points and finished the second set with a comfortable win. The V-Hawks also led the fourth set from start to finish, grabbing an eight-point lead midway through the set and holding on as IWC made a late run but ran out of time.
Katie Jammer (So.-Green Bay, Wis.) led the Tigers with 11 kills. Kendra Zimmerman (So.-Green Bay, Wis.) had 25 assists and tied Wagner for the team lead with 12 digs. Bonnie Hahn (Sr.-Iowa City, Iowa) had one solo block and six assisted blocks as IWC finished with nine blocks.
Viterbo was led by Abby Breitung and Amy Braaksma with 11 kills each. The V-Hawks are now tied with St. Ambrose University, Waldorf College and William Penn University for the conference lead, as all four teams now have two losses. IWC dropped to 11-17 overall and is now 0-5 against the top five teams in the MCC despite winning at least one set against four of the leaders and taking two of the leaders to five sets.
The Tigers finish the regular season Tuesday at Grand View College in Des Moines at 7 p.m. The winner will clinch the seventh seed in the MCC Tournament, while the loser drops to the eighth seed and will host the tournament’s first round match later in the week.
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 Viterbo 3 IWC 1
