—Messenger photo by Britt Kudla the 13th-ranked iowa central volleyball team celebrates after a point on Wednesday night inside Hodges Fieldhouse. For more photos, visit CU at messengernews.net

Sara Horn knew her 13th-ranked Iowa Central volleyball team would go through some early struggles with the kind of schedule they faced to open the season.

Now, though, the Tritons are starting to show Horn the kind of expectations the program has come to expect.

Iowa Central moved to .500 on the year with a fourth consecutive victory, topping Ellsworth in ICCAC play here Wednesday night inside Hodges Fieldhouse.

Scores were 25-17, 25-17 and25-20.

“We had a couple injuries in the preseason and knew that would kind of force us to make some lineup changes early,” Horn said. “Add that to playing four ranked teams right out of the gates and we knew it would be a learning experience.

“But these girls have been working hard and improving every single day in practice. They have been showing us what they are capable of.”

Former Fort Dodge Senior High standout Meah McCaleb recorded 12 digs with an assist, as sophomore Talya Sampson paced the offense with 19 kills. Sampson also recorded 10 digs, a serving ace and a solo block.

As a team, the Tritons had seven aces and six block assists.

“Meah just continues to impress,” Horn said. “We’ve never had a freshman Libero, and she has really proven what we expected she could do.”

Shirley Monaghan contributed 15 kills with seven digs as both Taylor Reimer and Dena Robb had four kills. Anabel Seaman dished out 36 assists with two aces and four digs.

Former Southeast Valley prep Addi Hindt got the start in the rotation.

“Addi did a great job,” Horn said. “We’ve got several girls really battling for playing time and that is great to see. We feel like we have a lot of depth this year mixed in with some really strong outsides that are not only great volleyball players but just smart students.”

Iowa Central now prepares for more home action as they host an invitational here beginning Friday. The Tritons play Seminole State at 12:45 p.m. and 12th-ranked Mesa at 6 p.m. along with matches on Saturday vs. Rochester Tech at 1 p.m. and Madison College at 4:30 p.m.