Central triumphs in volleyball home opener

Central College

PELLA — Overcoming a choppy start, the Central College volleyball team pulled off a sweep in its home season opener, topping Iowa Wesleyan 25-17, 25-12, 25-22 Tuesday.

“It wasn’t our sharpest volleyball,” coach Kent Clayberg said. “We had to deal with some different emotions than we have thus far. That’s part of the learning process—learning to play in front of friends and the home crowd.”

The Dutch struggled early and were down 11-10 in the first set before taking command.

Clayberg made extensive use of his bench, particularly in the third set. Middle hitter Hannah Welter (senior, Lincoln, Neb., Southwest HS) had eight kills and hit .304 while right-side hitter Emily Stoakes (junior, Gladbrook, Gladbrook-Reinbeck HS) had seven kills, middle hitter Emily McDonald (freshman, Orange City, MOC-Floyd Valley HS) had six kills and outside hitter Mollie Mason (freshman, Iowa City, West HS) had five while hitting .417. Libero Dzenita Bahtic (senior, Urbandale) had 27 digs while setter Claire Stewart (senior, Colorado Springs, Colo., Classical Academy) had 15 assists.

“We saw some good things,” Clayberg said. “I saw the rhythms of the offense we’re trying to run. It’s never perfect, but that’s ok. This was just a good one to get out of the way.”

Central has one more weekend of tournament play before beginning the Iowa Conference season with a challenging road trip to Buena Vista next Tuesday. The Dutch travel to Jacksonville, Ill. for the Illinois College Invitational Friday and Saturday. Central meets Monmouth (Ill.) Friday at 5 p.m. and Lakeland (Wis.) at 7 p.m. Saturday the Dutch face Rockford (Ill.) at 10 a.m. and Culver-Stockton (Mo.) at noon.

“It should be an opportunity for us to push the rhythm we want,” Clayberg said. “One thing I like about this team is that when we struggle with something, we can come back the next day and fix it.”