Photo courtesy Iowa Central Athletics: Addi Hindt, a former Southeast Valley standout, goes up to the net for Iowa Central against Kirkwood on Friday in Cedar Rapids at the NJCAA national volleyball tournament.

CEDAR RAPIDS — It wasn’t the way the seventh-ranked Iowa Central volleyball team wanted to end another banner season, but it was still a tremendous run to the big stage for the Tritons in 2025.

Iowa Central (31-9 overall) finished ninth at the NJCAA national tournament with a five-set loss to No. 1 Kirkwood on Friday.

The Tritons won the first set 25-16, lost the second 25-18, won the third 25-22, but dropped the last two games, 25-21 and 15-9.

This was the sixth consecutive national tournament trip for Iowa Central, which went unbeaten in the conference to claim theregional championship with a win over the top-ranked Eagles inside Hodges Fieldhouse earlier this month.

“(Friday) was a great match,” said Iowa Central head coach Sara Horn. “They are the No. 1 seed overall, and are obviously a very good team.

“We were close.”

After a season that started with injuries, the Tritons fought through the early troubles for another 30-plus victory campaign.

“It took a little while with the injuries we had, but we made some adjustments and found our rhythm,” Horn said. “We have a great core of sophomores who figured out their roles.

“We had four really great captains.”

In Friday’s matchup, Talya Sampson led the Tritons with 26 kills. Shirley Monaghan added 16.

Leading the Tritons in digs was Fort Dodge Senior High graduate Meah McCaleb with 16. Sampson (14), Monaghan (12) and Devon Rodewald (12) were next in line.

“We never play a freshman at libero because it takes a high level of ball control to get to the speed of the game,” Horn said. “A libero faces good players from all over the country, as well as international players. But Meah stepped in and made giant strides. She put her head down and got to work.

“She did a great job covering a ton of ground.”

This was the last match for sophomores Addi Hindt — a Southeast Valley graduate — as well as Anabel Seaman, Mallory Rheingans, Taylor Thompson, Monaghan, Sampson, Dena Robb and Ava Anderson.

“This sophomore class had two top-10 national finishes,” Horn said. “They are talented on the floor, but even more so off the floor. They get outstanding grades and lead by example. They’re also active in the community.

“We are going to miss them on the floor and the time that we’ve had with them. Now we’ll follow them through their next step and see where they go and what they do.”