DMACC VOLLEYBALL TEAM CLOSES REGULAR SEASON WITH 3-0 WIN OVER ELLSWORTH CC
No. 18 Bears finish at 20-15 overall and 9-4 in the ICCAC
· Freshman Malia Clayburg leads DMACC with eight kills
· Sophomores Ramsey Johnston and Paige De Jong each have 14 assists
· Sophomore Kathryn Lukkarinen contributes 13 digs
The DMACC volleyball team closed out the regular season with a 3-0 win over Ellsworth Community College (ECC) October 28 at Iowa Falls.
Freshman Malia Clayburg of Coon Rapids paced the Bears with eight kills and sophomores Ramsey Johnston of Chaska, Minn., and Kathryn Lukkarinen of Macomb, Ill., had seven apiece as the Bears closed the regular season at 20-15 overall and 9-4 in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC).
The Bears tied Central (Neb.) Community College (CNCC) for fourth place in the league standings.
DMACC, ranked 18th in the Division II poll from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), won by set scores of 25-19, 25-19, 25-15.
ECC fell to 7-30 and 3-10 with the loss.
Clayburg hit .261, getting her eight kills from 23 attacks with two hitting errors. Johnston and Lukkarinen hit .238 and .429 respectively. Johnston’s seven kills came from 21
attacks with two hitting errors and Lukkarinen got her seven kills from 14 attacks with one hitting error.
DMACC hit .267 in the win, getting 37 kills from 101 attacks with 10 hitting errors.
Johnston and sophomore Paige De Jong of Pella topped the Bears in assists with 14 apiece and De Jong added four service aces. Lukkarinen contributed two service aces and topped DMACC in digs with 13. Johnston came away with 11 digs.
Sophomore Alli Sheldahl of Hubbard had four blocks, including three block assists.
DMACC will be the No. 4 seed in the 2026 Region 11-A Volleyball Tournament Oct. 31 and Nov. 4. The Bears will face fifth-seeded CNCC in the tournament semifinals at 1 p.m. Oct. 31 inside the DMACC gymnasium. CNCC brings a 17-11 overall record into the match. The Raiders matched DMACC’s 9-4 record in the ICCAC.
DMACC took a 3-0 decision from CNCC in their regular-season match.
Kirkwood Community College (KCC) is the tournament’s No. 1 seed and will face eight-seeded Southwestern Community College (SWCC) in the other semifinal match Oct. 31 at Cedar Rapids. The DMACC-CNCC and KCC-SWCC winners will meet for the Region 11-A championship Nov. 4 at the home of the highest seeded team. KCC is 32-0 overall, 13-0 in the ICCAC and is the No. 1-ranked team in NJCAA Division II.
Iowa Central Community College (ICCC), Western Iowa Technical Community College (WITCC), Northeast (Iowa) Community College (NEICC) and Hawkeye Community College (HCC) make up the Region 11-B bracket with ICCC being the top-seeded team.
The highest seeded Region 11 champion will advance to the 2026 NJCAA Division II Volleyball Championship Nov. 19 to 22 at Cedar Rapids. The lowest seeded Region 11 champion moves on to the North Central-B District Championship against the winner of the Region 13 Volleyball Tournament.
