Central above .500 after pair of volleyball sweeps
Central Dutch Athletics
GRINNELL—Already surpassing its 2018 season win total, the Central College volleyball team swept a pair of non-conference matches Saturday.
The Dutch also climbed above the .500 mark at 10-8 in toppling Ripon College (Wis.) 25-21, 25-19, 25-23 and host Grinnell College 25-22, 25-16, 25-21.
“We’re slowly getting there, which is exciting,” coach Jeanne Czipri said.
Central had needed five sets to defeat Ripon in the Red Hawks Invitational Sept. 15. Outside hitters Landry Luhring (freshman, Grundy Center) and Krissa Larson had 13 and nine kills, respectively. Larson hit .273 and Luhring hit .250. Libero DaLana Kron (sophomore, West Branch) had 18 digs.
Against Grinnell, Larson had 14 kills and hit .281 while outside hitter Erin Dilger (junior, Tinley Park, Ill., Lincoln Way North HS) had eight kills, hitting a steamy .533. Central hit .288 as a squad.
“We had four hitters above .250, which is amazing,” Czipri said. “We’re making smart decisions with our shots.”
The Dutch had 18 service aces in the two matches with 12 errors.
Czipri also cited both setters, Chapel Carter (senior, Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Alyssa Lewton (freshman, Ankeny, Centennial HS).
“Our setters did a great job of getting our hitters the ball,” she said.
But a key to Central’s steady resurgence are the players seeing limited or no action, Czipri said.
“It’s a huge testament to them,” she said. “They’re pushing the starters in practice and they’re helping them in matches in finding ways to score, which is really cool. They’re a huge reason why we’re starting to figure things out.”
Central travels to Cedar Rapids Friday for a 7:30 p.m. American Rivers Conference match at Coe College before continuing to Waverly for a Saturday match at Wartburg College. Coe was off Saturday and is 13-5 overall with a 1-1 conference mark. The Kohawks swept Central at Pella last fall but the Dutch hold a 37-16 lead in the teams’ all-time series.
“We’ve just got to grind it out,” Czipri said. “If everybody just does their job and doesn’t try to do too much, we can compete.”
