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Another home sweep for Tritons

Photo by Paul DeCoursey: Former area players Mya McClain (St. Edmond, 1) and Jori Hajek (Humboldt, 21) celebrate with their Iowa Central teammates on Wednesday.

The seventh-ranked Iowa Central volleyball team has just a handful of scheduled opportunities left to showcase their players inside Hodges Fieldhouse.

On Wednesday night in a matchup with Southwestern, the Tritons were able to do that for all 17 players who dressed in a convincing sweep.

Scores were 25-14, 25-10 and 25-19.

“It’s so nice when we can reward them with time on the court,” ICCC head coach Sara Horn said. “Those girls work extremely hard in practice, pushing the starters, and deserve to be recognized for their efforts.”

Katilyn Steffes, one of just a handful of returning starters from the national semifinal team of a year ago, had seven kills with seven digs and two serving aces to lead the way for ICCC (22-5 overall, 6-0 ICCAC).

Humboldt grad Jori Hajek, another returning starter, recorded four kills, 10 digs, an ace and an assist, while two-year regular Brooke Dobson had four kills. Hajek was honored as both the league and national defensive player of the week.

Mercedes Madlock, part of the new players to the rotation, registered 24 assists with four serving aces, three kills and six digs. As a team, the Tritons had 12 aces and just five serving errors, as St. Edmond grad Mya McClain tallied four aces and three digs.

McClain, a freshman, started the match out as the first server for Iowa Central and quickly picked up two aces. She had a third later in the opening set.

In the second set, Fort Dodge Senior High grad Brooke Hansen and former Humboldt prep Marissa Kaufman came together for a block at the net as part of a 7-0 run to start the set.

Kaufman, a freshman, finished with five kills, while Michaelah Petrowiak had three.

Tjaden Johnston, another FDSH grad, picked up a kill. Southeast Valley grad Chloe Hicks and Manson Northwest Webster prep Kaitlyn Youngdale were also worked into the rotation.

The Tritons have now won four in a row and are 7-1 at home this year. They host a two-day tournament next Friday and Saturday, playing No. 20 North Dakota State College of Science, second-ranked Cowley, Carl Sandburg and Sauk Valley.

“I feel like our schedule really does a great job of challenging us at times, while also providing us chances to give players some rest and see what other ones can do,” Horn said. “We’ve got a really tough stretch coming up here and I’m excited to see what we can do.”

Up next will be a road date at Marshalltown on Thursday.

Iowa Central finishes the year at ninth-rated Kirkwood in what could decide the conference champion.

The Eagles (24-4, 6-0) are currently tied with the Tritons in the league standings and earned a win over them at the Des Moines Area Tournament recently. Kirkwood topped No. 16 DMACC last night in four.

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