Central wins volleyball tourney, stays perfect
Central College
PELLA—The Central College volleyball team overcame rocky starts to snare two more wins at the nine-team Augustana College (Ill.) Viking Classic and capture the tournament crown.
The Dutch topped Lincoln Christian University (Ill.) 23-25, 25-15, 25-20, 25-12 and rallied from a two-set deficit to defeat Augustana 23-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-23, 15-5. Central has a 4-0 overall mark.
“You don’t like to fall behind right away but it’s impressive to see a team make the adjustments, respond and come back,” coach Kent Clayberg said.
Clayberg emptied the bench with all 17 players seeing action against Lincoln Christian. Middle hitter Kiley Meyers (senior, Grundy Center) led the team with 10 kills and a fiery .643 hitting percentage. Middle hitter Liz Ihnen (sophomore, Sheldon) and right-side hitter Caitlin Kouba (senior, Dubuque, Wahlert HS) had eight kills apiece. Setter Maggie Snyder (senior, Alexandria, Minn., Jefferson HS) had 23 assists and freshman Jill Schildroth (setter, freshman, Reinbeck, Gladbrook-Reinbeck) had 15. Libero Chelsea Grieger (senior, Pella) tallied 20 digs while Snead and defensive specialist Liz Sanders (senior, Clive, Valley HS) had 10 digs apiece.
“We started slow and played back on our heels in the first match,” Clayberg said. “We were sloppy when it mattered. But once we kicked it into gear we played well. Everyone got to play and we had all reserve players on the floor in the fourth set.”
Against Augustana, Kouba posted a team-best 14 kills and .520 hitting percentage. Outside hitter Amy Golly (senior, Ankeny) had 12 kills and Meyers had 11. Meyers also recorded four blocks and four ace serves. Grieger racked up 25 digs, Laflin had 18, Golly had 16 and Snyder had 15. Snyder also had 28 assists and Schildroth had 15 assists.
“We played very well the second half of that match,” Clayberg said. “Augustana is a good team and a different team than the rest of the schools we saw at the tournament. We learned a lot about what we can expect from our squad.”
Clayberg highlighted the performances of Meyers and Golly.
“Kiley was a very efficient and very consistent presence today,” Clayberg said. “Not just on the attack, but also in serving, blocking and on defense.
“Amy played the best match of her career against Augustana,” Clayberg said. “She was great defensively and had an aggressive swing. It was a sight to see.”
For the season opener, Clayberg was pleased.
“Overall it was a good start to the season,” Clayberg said. “We didn’t expect to be perfect in our first tournament and we certainly weren’t. But over the course of four matches this team got progressively better.”
Central opens Iowa Conference play Wednesday, facing rival Simpson College (0-3) in Indianola at 7:30 p.m.
“There’s no doubt the conference is going to be very challenging,” Clayberg said. “Simpson is a traditionally strong program and usually a handful. We won’t know anything until we get on the court. We’ll play the game the best we can.”
