MOUNT PLEASANT – Iowa Wesleyan College recorded a season high 14 blocks as a team and took advantage of 42 hitting errors by Mount Mercy College to defeat the Mustangs in four sets in the Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament First Round match Thursday night at Ruble Arena.
The eighth-seeded Tigers defeated ninth-seeded Mount Mercy 25-15, 21-25, 25-18 and 25-17 to advance to the conference tournament quarterfinals. Up next for IWC will be a matchup against top seed St. Ambrose University Saturday afternoon in Davenport.
The Tigers received contributions from all eight players in the regular rotation in posting the win over the Mustangs. Five players finished in double figures in digs, three finished with at least seven kills, and five players also recorded at least three assisted blocks in the match.
IWC also took advantage of a number of errors by the visitors, including 16 in the first set as the Tigers needed just six kills of their own to win the opener. Wesleyan followed with its sloppiest set, posting half of the team’s 22 errors in the match just in the second set as Mount Mercy evened things up and looked ready to settle in and make it a match.
The Tigers came back in the third set, though, gradually taking control after the midway point. Hallie Ostedgaard (Sr.-Iowa City, Iowa) served five straight points to make it 18-11 at one point. Also, Bonnie Hahn (Sr.-Iowa City, Iowa) had four kills, more than half of her match total and part of the Tigers’ 14 kills to just three errors in the set.
IWC finished it out in the fourth, taking a 5-0 lead at the start and never trailing. The Mustangs never got closer than four points in the second half of the set and finished their season at 8-32 overall.
Katie Jammer (So.-Green Bay, Wis.) led the Tigers with 10 kills and added 11 digs. Katie Leidl (Jr.-Esterhazy, Saskatchewan) had nine kills, while Kendra Zimmerman (So.-Green Bay, Wis.) had 31 assists and 15 digs. Corrie Wagner (Sr.-Iowa City, Iowa) led the team with 19 digs, while Megan McVey (Fr.-Fort Worth, Texas) and B.J. Wagy (So.-Cedar Rapids, Iowa) were the main forces at the net with eight and seven blocks, respectively.
The Tigers improved to 12-18 overall and finished a season sweep of two matches this year against the Mustangs. IWC next will face St. Ambrose on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Tigers and Queen Bees played a close match in their one meeting during the conference season, with SAU coming from behind for a five-set win on Oct. 8.
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 #8 IWC 3 #9 MMC 1
MCC Tournament Bracket
