—Photo by Paul DeCoursey The Iowa Central volleyball team holds their trophy after earning a national tournament berth.

IOWA FALLS — Iowa Central is back in the national volleyball tournament.

The 16th-ranked Tritons (30-9 overall) rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat second-seeded DMACC in five sets of the Region XI-B championship match.

The Bears won the first and third set 26-24 and 25-23. Iowa Central won the second set 25-20.

After losing two sets by two points, Iowa Central picked up a convincing 25-16 victory in Game 4 and closed out the national berth with a 15-12 win in Game 5.

“We knew it was going to go back and forth and it was a fairly even match,” said Iowa Central head coach Sara Horn. “One of our goals was to stay in the moment and not to think about the past. The fourth set was the most staggered score and we felt good going into the fifth set.”

The Tritons took a 4-1 lead to start the final set and the score was knotted at 11-11. The Tritons then built a 13-11 lead and closed out the victory with Region XI-B tournament MVP Gabby Sullivan recording a block.

“We had our starting rotation, rotation five set up for the final points,” Horn said. “That gave us a ton of confidence and were able to lean on that.”

Horn attributes Saturday’s success to her teams ability to be able to stay focused.

“It was a fantastic match,” Horn said. “We were focused and I attribute that to our sophomores. We have some great leaders on our team,” Horn said. “Our five sophomore leaders (Gabby Sullivan, Lexi Green, Liza Hatcher, Michele O’Haver, Emily Nelson) have a great mindset and have learned a lot how they want to lead.

“We were mentally tough (Saturday). I’m super proud of this group.”

Sullivan, who was also named the ICCAC Player of the Year, recorded a 30 kills in the match, which ranked in the top-three for the season.

“She (Sullivan) leads our team emotionally,” Horn said. “She was just coming off an injury the last time we played them (Tritons lost in four), but she played phenomenal this time. She was matched up with DMACC’s best player and she played really well against her.”

Kayla Faldt and Libby Zorn were named to the all-tournament team as well.

“Libby had a huge match and did a good job of staying mentally tough,” Horn said. “If she made an error, she came back and recorded a kill.

“Kayla had eight blocks again and she was such a presence at the net.”

The Tritons will compete in the national the weekend after Thanksgiving.