Photo by Paul DeCoursey: St. Edmond graduate Mya McClain bumps the ball for Iowa Central against Ellsworth inside Hodges Fieldhouse on Wednesday night.

Ahead of a challenging weekend, the Iowa Central volleyball team had little trouble remaining unbeaten in ICCAC action here Wednesday night.

The sixth-ranked Tritons swept past Ellsworth by scores of 25-10, 25-21 and 25-9 for their fifth consecutive win and fourth consecutive sweep.

Iowa Central (14-2 overall, 3-0 in league), four-time defending conference champions, will now head to Illinois for a two-day event that will see them face No. 8 Heartland, 12th-ranked McHenry, Lincoln Land and No. 3 Parkland.

“We are definitely going to be challenged and tested,” ICCC head coach Sara Horn said. “It was good to get into a nice rhythm with this lineup because it is a new lineup. We’ve been working on different things, but I feel like this is the one we are going to move forward with.

“We were able to do some good things (Wednesday) night and now we’ll need to really be locked in beginning Friday.”

Katilyn Steffes, a mainstay in the Triton lineup for three seasons now, recorded a match-high 13 kills, adding 13 digs and four serving aces. Former Humboldt standout Jori Hajek had 10 kills, five digs and four aces, while Mercedes Madlock recorded 33 assists, seven digs, two aces and two kills.

Mya McClain, a freshman from St. Edmond, had five digs. Brooke Dobson recorded eight kills, Leah Jolly registered six kills and Fort Dodge Senior High grad Tjaden Johnston had a dig.

“It was good to come out and get the win,” Horn said. “We didn’t play perfect, but with so much change in our lineup, I was happy with how we played.”

Marissa Kaufman, a Humboldt freshman, had two kills while it was Hajek serving out the second set in Iowa Central’s favor. The Tritons finished with 13 aces and just two serving errors on the night with 10 block assists, including five by Jolly.

Following road action this weekend, Iowa Central returns home for a date next Wednesday with No. 11 Hawkeye, who was knocked off in five sets by Des Moines Area last night. The Tritons face the Bears on Wednesday, Sept. 28 in Boone.