DIGGING DEEP
FDSH grad McCaleb reaches elite milestone as No. 4 Tritons shake off rust
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The fourth-ranked Iowa Central volleyball team shook off any lingering rust and secured an ICCAC sweep over Northeast here Wednesday night inside Hodges Fieldhouse.
Scores were 25-20, 25-10 and 25-10.
After playing multiple matches in the span of just a handful of days in September, the Tritons (24-2 overall, 9-0 in the league) have been on the court just twice since the calendar flipped to October.
The victory over the Hawks (10-14, 3-6) featured a milestone achievement for Meah McCaleb. The sophomore recorded 13 digs, giving her 1,006 for her career. She tallied 643 digs last year and currently sits at 363 this season.
McCaleb became the second Fort Dodge Senior High grad to record 1,000 career digs for Iowa Central. Morgan (Brown) Angotti accomplished the feat from 2006-07; she finished with 1,138, which places her fifth on the program’s all-time list.
"It was a great three-set conference win for us," ICCC head coach Sara Horn said. "It's been a quiet couple of weeks with only three matches, so I thought our players did a great job of shaking off a slower start and dominating the last two sets."
In the first set, the Tritons broke open a 12-12 tie with three straight points, including a pair of Cooper Griffin kills. They would use an ace from Kalyn Mills to make it 23-17 on the heels of an 11-5 rally.
Iowa Central came out firing to win the second, scoring 10 of the first 14 points and 21 of the first 30. They did the same in the third, scoring the first seven to put Northeast away.
Griffin finished with eight kills, Rylyn McCarty had seven, and both Kampbell Bryte and Annie Elbert contributed six. Elbert also tallied 27 assists.
Abby Jensen matched McCaleb with 13 digs. Bryte recorded 10 digs, and McCarty seven block assists.
"Annie and Rylyn had great matches," Horn said. "Meah getting 1,000 career digs was another highlight for the night.
"We start a really important two-week stretch next week before we head into postseason play, so now is the time we want to start playing our best."
Iowa Central will take a week off before heading to Boone to face DMACC on Wednesday, Oct. 14. The Bears are currently ranked 14th, as the ICCAC also boasts No. 1 Kirkwood in the Top 25.
Horn’s squad will host the Triton Invitational on Oct. 16-17, with matches against seventh-ranked Kansas City Kansas, Lincoln Land and Metropolitan before closing out the regular season against Southwestern, Kirkwood and Western Iowa Tech.
Iowa Central and Kirkwood are currently tied for the ICCAC lead, with Western Iowa Tech one game back. DMACC is fourth with two league losses.