BOONE – The NIACC volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to No. 12 DMACC in the opening round of the NJCAA Region 11 tournament on Wednesday.
Top-seeded DMACC (27-9 overall) won 25-14, 25-11, 25-19. The eighth-seed Trojans bowed out with a record of 14-24.
“For many, the season often ends too soon regardless of if we got another match or two,” NIACC coach Chris Brandt said. “We would gladly take more time with these amazing young women but sadly instead, we get to say thank you to our sophomores for two years of building our Trojans4Life legacy.
“They have developed into strong leaders, caring women who know how to work hard for their futures. This team has changed so much in such a short time and they should be proud of the things they have learned about the game and themselves. We hope our freshmen leave the court (Wednesday) hungry for more. They have unlimited potential and we are excited to help them continue to growth.”
In Wednesday’s match, sophomore Alyssa Wickersheim led the Trojans with 10 kills and five digs. Sophomore Kennedy Schwiesow had 15 digs and six assists and sophomore Iwalani Beltran had eight assists and seven digs.
Also for the Trojans, Jaida Hansen had six digs, two kills and one block, Abbie Hyde had three digs and one ace serve, Addison Tabbert had two kills and Kelly Miller had two kills.
NIACC’s Ellie Hanna had three blocks and one kill, Emily Opstvedt had nine assists and five digs, Kit Byars had four kills, two blocks and one ace serve and Zhane Singer had two kills, three digs and three blocks.
As the top seed, DMACC will host the regional semifinals and finals on Saturday and Sunday.
DMACC faces fourth-seed Ellsworth at 1 p.m. Saturday. Second-seed Kirkwood faces third-seed Iowa Central at 3 p.m.
The title match is slated for 1 p.m. Sunday.
Wednesday’s regional tournament results
(1) DMACC 3, (8) NIACC 0
(4) Ellsworth 3, (5) Northeast CC 0
(3) Iowa Central 3, (6) Hawkeye CC 0
(2) Kirkwood 3, (7) Southeastern CC 0
(Photo: NIACC celebrates a point in Wednesday’s match against DMACC, via NIACC)
