- Bears begin season with 3-0 victory over John A Logan Community College
- DMACC takes fifth set 15-12 in defeating Illinois Central CC
- Bears close out tournament with wins over Carl Sandburg CC and Mott CC
The DMACC volleyball team began with 2021-22 season with four victories in the McHenry Tournament August 20 and 21 at Rockford, Ill.
The Bears, ranked 16th in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II preseason poll and playing under first-year head coach Danielle Lopez, opened the tournament with a 3-0 win over John A Logan Community College (JALCC) on Aug. 20 and then upset fourth-ranked Illinois Central Community College (ICCC), 3-2. DMACC closed out the tournament with 3-1 wins over Carl Sandburg Community College (CSCC) and Mott Community College (MCC) on Aug. 22.
Covid-19 freshman (CoFR) Kylie Welch of Davenport had 10 kills, two assists, 12 digs and two blocks in DMACC's win over JALCC. Set scores were 25-15, 26-24, 25-18. CoFR Anna Niehaus of Carroll finished with six kills and CoFR Abby Allmon of Norwalk added five as the Bears hit .165 in the win. They collected 31 kills from 115 attacks with 12 hitting errors.
CoFR Sara Hansen of Hudson led DMACC in assists with 12 and CoFR Elizabeth Pierce of Altoona came away with nine to go with four ace serves. CoFR Rachel Eddy of Dubuque topped the Bears in digs with 15 and CoFR Abigail Maue of Walker led DMACC in blocks with six block assists. Allmon had four block assists and Welch and CoFR Alissa Weinkoetz of Afton had two block assists apiece.
Welch had 19 kills, Niehaus and Allmon added 13 apiece and CoFR Chloe Gilgen of Modale finished with nine in DMACC's upset of ICCC. Set scores were 16-25, 25-21, 25-23, 20-25, 15-12. DMACC hit .230 in the win, getting 66 kills from 178 attacks with 25 hitting errors.
Hansen and Pierce led the Bears in assists with 30 and 25 respectively and Hansen and Weinkoetz contributed two ace serves each. Eddy led four players in double figures in digs with 20. Welch came away with 18, Hansen had 15 and Pierce finished with 14. Maue contributed four block assists, Welch had three blocks, including two block assists and Niehaus and Allmon had two blocks apiece.
DMACC had its best hitting match of the tournament in defeating CSCC by set scores of 21-25, 25-13, 25-15, 25-12.
The Bears hit .264 in the match, getting 44 kills from 129 attacks with 10 hitting errors. Welch led the way with 16 kills and a .469 hitting percentage. Her 16 kills came from 32 attacks with one hitting error. Niehaus and Allmon added eight kills apiece.
Pierce led DMACC in assists with 19 and also had five ace serves. Hansen finished with 14 assists and Weinkoetz added two ace serves. The Bears got 19 digs from Eddy, 17 from Welch and 15 from Pierce.
Welch and Niehaus had 16 and 15 kills respectively and Allmon finished with 10 as DMACC closed out the tournament with a 25-19, 22-25, 25-21, 25-22 win over MCC. The Bears hit .180 in the win, getting 58 kills from 194 attacks with 23 hitting errors.
Hansen finished with a team-high 23 assists and also had three ace serves and Pierce came away with 19 assists. Eddy led DMACC with digs with 36, Hansen added 24, Welch had 19 and Pierce contributed 14. Maue led DMACC in blocks with three and Niehaus, Allmon and Weinkoetz had two apiece.
The DMACC volleyball team faces Indian Hills Community College (IHCC) tonight at Ottumwa. IHCC, an NJCAA Division I program, is 3-1 for the season.