Central sweeps two at Chicago volleyball tourney
Central College
CHICAGO, ILL.—The Central College volleyball team turned in a pair of three-game sweeps at the University of Chicago (Ill.) Gargoyle Classic Friday.
The Dutch rolled past Benedictine University (Ill.) 25-22, 25-21, 25-16 and Wesleyan University (Conn.) 25-23, 25-19, 25-18.
Against Benedictine (7-8), middle hitter Kiley Meyers (senior, Grundy Center) had eight kills and a steamy .500 hitting percentage. Right-side hitter Caitlin Kouba (senior, Dubuque, Wahlert HS) had seven kills and outside hitter Amy Golly (senior, Ankeny) had five. Meyers and Kouba each posted five blocks. Setter Maggie Snyder (senior, Alexandria, Minn., Jefferson HS) had 22 assists and libero Chelsea Grieger (senior, Pella) racked up 27 digs.
“We blocked very well against Benedictine,” coach Kent Clayberg said. “We weren’t getting contact early, but once we changed our base and drew attention to their key hitters we started getting touches. Our first-tempo offense was also clicking very well.”
In the sweep over Wesleyan (2-6), nine Central players recorded kills. Kouba and middle hitter Ashley Pedersen (junior, Humboldt) led the attack with six kills each and Golly had five. Pedersen also had four blocks and Golly served three aces. Snyder logged 14 assists and seven digs and setter Emily Huegel (junior, Bettendorf, Pleasant Valley HS) had 10 assists. Grieger collected 13 digs.
“It was great to get a lot of our players in the game,” Clayberg said. “We’ll continue to shake things around and find the lineup that gives us the best chance to be the team we want to be every time out.”
Saturday the Dutch square off against Whittier College (Calif.) at 11:30 a.m. and NAIA Trinity Christian College (Ill.) at 3:30 p.m.
“Both teams tomorrow play closer to our rhythm and will be tougher competition,” Clayberg said. “Trinity is athletic and long. They’ll hit the ball at us and force us to play defense. Whittier is another school we don’t usually see and they’ll also have a more dynamic offense.”
Whittier has a 2-8 overall mark and Trinity is 10-4.
