Reivers Tested in First Non-Conference Action of Spring Season

Sterling, Colorado

An auspicious start in set one against 6th ranked Snow College paved the way for a long weekend for Reivers Volleyball.

Early in the opener for #6 Iowa Western at the Northeastern JC Invite, sophomore setter Reka Kotorman suffered an unknown injury and was unavailable for the remainder of the weekend.

Without their floor general and with libero Leah Palensky already limited the Reivers struggled to maintain the gameplans that Head Coach Alicia Williams and her staff had installed.

6th ranked IWCC (3-3) fell 3-0 to 2nd ranked Snow, 3-1 to #11 Utah State-Eastern and 3-1 to #3 Seward County.  The lone bright spot for the Reivers was a 3-2, come from behind win over tourney host Northeastern JC.  In the match, IW trailed 2-0 to the 9th ranked Plainswomen before rallying for 25-19, 25-17 and 15-4 wins to take their third win of the season.  Elenoa Sing hit .638, while Emily Knight also finished better than .500 in the match and helped to light the spark that ignited the comeback.  Yadhira Anchante, playing for Kotorman, had a match high 59 assists.  A hobbled Palensky and Iremnur Elmas each dug 18 balls while Lauren Walenz saved 17 chances.

Overall the Reivers missed the direction of Kotorman, but Anchante played well after only being in system for three weeks after arriving to start the semester and Sing and Knight emerged as viable threats in Williams' 8th season.  Overall a learning weekend for this season's squad, but as Coach Williams said after the experience, "this season, nothing is normal, there's no routine to get into, we're just happy to be playing volleyball.  It'll definitely continue to be a work in progress and hopefully we're where we need to be when it counts at the end of the season."

After facing four of the nation's top four squads in Colorado, the Reivers travel to Ottumwa for a Tuesday night ICCAC clash with 14th ranked Indian Hills.  That game is set to start at 6:00 pm and can be seen on Go Hills TV on Facebook and at GoHillsTV.com.

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