Southwestern won 22-25, 25-16, 25-18, 25-5.
“I am very proud of the team that started the match,” said NIACC coach Chris Brandt. “We came out ready to put up a great fight and defensively were able to get a lot of blocks and some great digs.”
Freshman Jessica Balek (Manly, Ia.) led NIACC (4-3 overall, 0-2 in the ICCAC) with nine kills and five blocks. Freshman Caitlyn Hanig (Sheffield, Ia.) had eight kills and five blocks.
Sophomore LaShae Brooks (Nett Lake, Minn.) had six blocks for NIACC.
Hallie Erdahl, Heather Danburg and Melissa Bisbee each had eight digs. Erdahl also had two ace serves while Danburg had 16 assists and eight digs.
Also for NIACC, sophomore Lexy Nodtvedt (Manly, Ia.) had three kills and two ace serves, freshman Sydney Tschetter (Huron, S.D.) had four kills and two blocks and freshman Carly Ouverson (Fertile, Ia.) had eight assists and two ace serves.
After winning the opening game, Southwestern won the final three games to gain the conference victory.
“Somewhere between the third and fourth match the mistakes turned into mental errors and we need to learn from that,” Brandt said.
NIACC will play in a tournament at Rochester Community Technical College Friday and Saturday. The Lady Trojans face Western Technical College at 2 p.m. on Friday and Riverland Community College at 6 p.m. Friday.
On Saturday, NIACC plays Minnesota State Community College at 11 a.m. and Minnesota West Community College at 3 p.m.
