NIACC improves to 4-0
ROCKFORD, Ill. - The NIACC volleyball team remained perfect on the young season with two victories at the McHenry County College Invitational on Saturday.
NIACC improved its record to 4-0 with a 3-1 win (25-13, 22-25, 25-13, 25-21) over Oakton Community College and a 3-2 win (25-20, 25-18, 17-25, 13-25, 15-6)over Grand Rapids CC.
"We started off a little slow with low energy but they definitely turned that around for our second match," NIACC coach Chris Brandt said. "Our defense made some unbelievable plays to keep us going throughout the tournament.
"More importantly, they team focused on our game and worked on lots of litle things along the way."
The Lady Trojans are off to a 4-0 start for the first time since the 2016 season when they began the season with seven straight wins.
On Saturday, the Lady Trojans were led by sophomore Kennedy Meister with 24 kills and 31 digs. Sophomore Shelby Heston had 15 kills and seven digs.
Also for NIACC, Bri Powers had 16 digs and four ace serves, Kayla Lentz had 28 digs, Becca Steffens collected 57 assists and had 29 digs, seven kills and six ace serves, Alexa Loftus had 13 kills and six digs, Sarah Kimberly had seven kills and Braylee Wood had nine kills and eight blocks.
"The sophomore leadership during the preseason is a game changer," Brandt said, "and that made a positive impact, especially when we weren't playing to our potential."
NIACC returns to action Aug. 30-31 at Southeastern's Jimmy John Invitational in West Burlington.
Notes: Meister now has 468 career kills and 628 career digs ... Meister's 468 kills ranks 11th on the school's all-time career list ... Heston has 347 career kills (20th on school's career list) and 332 career digs.
NIACC (4-0)
NIACC 3, Kishwaukee College 0
NIACC 3, Madison College 1
NIACC 3, Oakton CC 1
NIACC 3, Grand Rapids CC 2
Hannah Wagner (2017-18) 859
Casey Spree (1998-99) 766
Kaylee Whittington (2015-16) 743
Rachael Spree (2000-01) 665
Leslie Junker (2000-01) 664
Amanda Kramer (2001-02) 647
Sarah Heineman (2007-08) 615
McKenzie Heue (2011-12) 576
Jayna Blome (2008-09) 560
Aubury Coleman (2015-16) 481
Kennedy Meister (2018) 468
Caitlyn Hanig (2013-14) 461
Natalie Meyer (1998-99) 412
Sammy Nelson (2010-11) 411
Jamie Swanson (1999-2000) 386
Samantha Pedersen (2009) 382
Lexy Nodtvedt (2012-13) 370
Karlie Niedert (2014-15) 359
Darcy Nelson (2011) 349
Shelby Heston (2017-18) 347