West Plains, Missouri

Iowa Western Volleyball (6-4) continued a brutal road stretch early Friday at the West Plains Civic Center.

IWCC faced Jefferson College and tourney host, #18 MSU-West Plains, in a pair of early matches at the Grizzly Invitational.

Against the Vikings of JeffCo (1-4), the Reivers had 36 team kills, 13 aces, 25 digs, and five team blocks.  Maike Bertens had a long scoring run from the service line, collecting seven aces in the match.  Iremnur Elmas chipped in eight kills followed closely by Elenoa Sing's seven kills.

"They were a good blocking team, but we played great defense", said Reivers Head Coach Alicia Williams.

Lauren Walenz dug 12 balls in the three-set win, 25-17, 25-12, 25-12.

Against 18th ranked West Plains (2-3), the Reivers figured to have their hands full on the Grizzlies home court, but after a tight first set, it was IW domination again.

The Reivers took care of business, 26-24, 25-16, and 25-13 to grab their sixth win of the season.  11 more kills from Elmas and three more aces from the service of Bertens.

Yadhira Anchante distributed the ball well in place of the injured Reka Kotorman, adding a career-high in kills in the most active matches so far for the freshman.

"We played very solid all around," said Williams, "It felt good to come in and take care of business in six straight sets, our team needed this kind of confidence."

Of note, the Reivers won the 2006 NJCAA National Tournament in West Plains with the Grizzlies as host and Coach Williams as a player on the Reivers Championship team.

Next up for the Reivers is an ICCAC conference match against Iowa Lakes, Sunday at 1:00 pm.  That game can be seen on the Reiver Sports Network with Jake Ryan and former Reiver 'Hina Pua'a on the call.

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