Central volleyball team sweeps final two matches of NACC/IIAC Crossover
Central College
MILWAUKEE, WIS. — The Central College volleyball team defeated Aurora (Ill.) 25-16, 25-14, 25-20 and Wisconsin Lutheran 25-19, 17-25, 25-14, 19-25, 15-9 in the NACC/IIAC Crossover tournament Saturday in Milwaukee.
Coach Kent Clayberg liked what he saw from his team in the three-set sweep of Aurora (14-7), coming off a disappointing loss to Concordia (Wis.) Friday.
“There are situations where sometimes you need a couple of days to process things and to work them out,” said Clayberg. “Our issues on Friday night weren’t of the physical nature.”
Against 0-12 Wisconsin Lutheran, Clayberg’s bench saw significant playing time that will benefit the team down the road.
“We needed to build up that depth, needed to give those kids that experience,” said Clayberg. “We are going to need that at some point.”
One player whose performance stood out to Clayberg Saturday was defensive specialist Dzenita Bahtic (senior, Urbandale).
“I thought Dzenita Bahtic was simply spectacular,” said Clayberg. “She was fantastic, she was everywhere.”
Bahtic finished with 34 digs in the two matches. Clayberg also liked what he saw out of outside hitter Jessica Laflin (senior, Phoenix, Ariz. West Horizon HS), who had 15 kills on the day, outside hitter Shantel Gish (senior, Cedar Rapids, Prairie), who recorded 16 kills, and defensive specialist Tara Tralewski (freshman, Naperville, Ill., Neuqua Valley), who had 36 digs. Saturday marked Tralewski’s collegiate start.
Next up for the Dutch (13-6) is a home match against preseason Iowa Conference favorite Wartburg College (16-2) Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium. A video webcast and live stats of the match will be available through the Central athletics website at www.central.edu/athletics.
