Courtesy of the Daily Nonpareil:
NJCAA Division-I No. 2 Iowa Western volleyball had one of its best defensive performances of the year in a 3-1 (25-22, 25-27,25-14,25-18) road victory at No. 11 Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, according to head coach Alicia Williams.
The Reivers had hit some road bumps recently, losing to No. 7 Butler Community College (KS) last weekend and needing four sets against Division-II No. 12 Hawkeye Community College on Monday.
"I thought we did really well considering on Monday we didn't necessarily play our greatest game," Williams said. "I didn't know how we would respond to that going into a tough match with just one day rest.
"I was pleasantly surprised at how we came out right away and just had a lot of confidence. I think we were just pepped up and ready for that game. It was good to see that they responded and just kind of bounced back from kind of a bland last week and a half."
A large part of the success came from the defensive effort of Iowa Western. The Reivers limited the Warriors to just 37 kills on 127 total attacks.
Iowa Western had 63 kills on 191 attacks and finished with 95 digs as a team.
Freshman Duru Ozkan led the Reivers in digs with 18, and Sophomore Aleeya Jones and Freshman Emma Prentice added 17 each.
"We talked a lot about just pursuing balls," Williams said. "Making sure that we get under and keep the ball alive as long as possible. Just keep the rally going."
That effort showed early in the match when one point lasted for over a minute.
"In volleyball (that's) excruciating," Williams said. "It's just so long. They really took that to heart. ... (It) was just our girls sticking to the game plan of knowing where they were going to hit and really pursuing and working hard to get under a lot of balls. It was probably one of our best defensive games that we've played this year."
Sophomore Maike Bertens led IWCC in kills on Wednesday with 14, sophomore Dayan Malave and freshman Cherlin Antonio added 11 each, and Prentice totaled 10. Sophomore Yadhira Anchante paced the Reivers with 53 assists.
Prentice also blocked three shots at the net, and Esterling served four aces.
"I thought Maike Bertens and Emma Prentice kind of came alive," Williams said. "They've had a lot of pressure put on them on the outside position in the last couple weeks. I think last night they played more towards their full potential. They did a really good job of getting kills when we needed them."
Williams hopes this victory will fuel the Reivers for some tough competition coming up.
Ranked Division-I opponents coming up on the schedule are No. 19 Mineral Area College (Oct. 1), No. 12 Missouri State University-West Plains (Oct. 2) and No. 18 Western Nebraska Community College (Oct. 8).
"I told the girls that (this win) is something that we can put in our back pocket to remember that we did play really well, against a really good team," Williams said. "When we face some adversity or our backs are against the wall against a tough opponent, we can have that confidence that we're able to do it. For us, I think it was just really key and important for them to fell a good win and win the right way."
Iowa Western is in action next at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Johnson County Community College Invite. Johnson County CC is currently ranked No. 7 in Division-II.
Iowa Western (12-1) 25 25 25 25 — 3
Indian Hills (12-2) 22 27 14 18 — 1
