NIACC goes 1-1 at Jimmy John's Invite

WEST BURLINGTON - The NIACC volleyball team split a pair of matches at the Jimmy John's Invite on the Southeastern Community College campus on Friday.

The Lady Trojans (5-1 overall) started their day with a 16-25, 13-25, 25-17, 22-25 loss to Kansas City (Kansas) Community College before rebounding with a 25-12, 22-25, 25-16, 26-16 victory over the Graceland JV.

"We started a little flat and struggled to get much going at first," NIACC coach Chris Brandt said. "The team turned it around and we are fortunate to have another day in the gym to keep working together."

Kennedy Meister paced NIACC during the two matches with 24 kills, 31 digs, 5 assists, 3 blocks and 2 service aces. Meister's 24 kills moved her into 10th place on NIACC's all-time list with 492 in her career, passing Aubury Coleman. Coleman, who played for the Lady Trojans during the 2015 and 2016 seasons, had 481 career kills.

Meanwhile, Becca Steffen had 17 kills, 56 assists, 18 digs, 3 blocks and 3 service aces for the Lady Trojans, who face the St. Ambrose JV and Marshalltown CC in their remaining two matches at the invitational on Saturday.

Also for NIACC, Alexa Loftus had 17 kills and 14 digs, Shelby Heston had 15 kills, 13 digs and 2 blocks, Megan Hollander had 8 kills, 7 blocks and 4 digs, Braylee Wood had 6 kills and 4 blocks, Tessa Sienknecht had 15 assists, 15 digs and 3 kills, Kayla Lentz recorded 31 digs, 4 assists and 3 service aces and Bri Power had 16 digs and 2 service aces for the Lady Trojans.