DAVENPORT – The Iowa Wesleyan College volleyball team put its best scare into top-seeded St. Ambrose University, but the Queen Bees recorded a hard-earned three-set win over the Tigers Saturday afternoon in a Midwest Collegiate Conference Volleyball Tournament quarterfinal match.
The Tigers took the hosts to the end in all three games but lost 25-22, 25-21, 25-23, ending their season at 12-19 overall. St. Ambrose advanced to the MCC tourney semifinals and will host fourth-seeded Ashford University Wednesday night after the Saints defeated #5 seed Viterbo (Wis.) University Saturday in four sets.
IWC gave the MCC regular season champion Queen Bees (25-16 overall) all they could handle, just as the Tigers did in their regular season match on Oct. 8 that went five sets. Wesleyan only trailed by as many as six points on one occasion over the three games and committed just 17 hitting errors in the match.
The Tigers led for the first half of the first set before the Bees gained control late to take the opener. The second set saw St. Ambrose lead wire to wire but never lead by more than four points. IWC got as close as two points late in the set at 23-21 before SAU served out the final two points.
The third set was a nailbiter with 13 ties and neither team leading by more than three points at any point. IWC got within 24-23 after a kill by Bonnie Hahn (Sr.-Iowa City, Iowa) but Amy Royer finished with a kill for Ambrose to put the match away.
Megan McVey (Fr.-Fort Worth, Texas) capped a strong freshman year for IWC with 10 kills. Kendra Zimmerman (So.-Green Bay, Wis.) had 23 assists, Katie Leidl (Jr.-Esterhazy, Saskatchewan) led the team with 12 digs, and B.J. Wagy (So.-Cedar Rapids, Iowa) had four blocks. The match was the final one for five IWC seniors, including Hahn, Nicole Orth (Burlington, Iowa), Hallie Ostedgaard (Iowa City, Iowa), Missie Simmons (Russell, Iowa) and Corrie Wagner (Iowa City, Iowa).
Katelyn Lilienthal led the Queen Bees with 12 kills, Lauren Aderman had 31 assists and Hannah Fischer had 23 digs. It is the second straight year St. Ambrose has ended the Tigers’ season in the MCC tourney as the Queen Bees also defeated the Tigers last year in the MCC quarterfinals.
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 #1 SAU 3 #8 IWC 0
MCC Tournament Bracket
