November
5, 2005
Release courtesy of Larry Happel, Central College sports information
director
PELLA,
IOWA . . . Using
a dominant performance at the net, the Central College volleyball
team rolled to the Iowa Conference tournament title with a 30-21,
30-19, 30-20 sweep of Simpson College Saturday.
That assures
the Dutch of their 10th NCAA Division III tournament berth.
Pairings for the tournament will be announced Sunday, with regional
play starting Wednesday.
The 16th-ranked
Dutch (26-9), who had wrapped up their 10th straight league
title earlier in the week, had 18 blocks and hit a steamy .321.
Right-side
hitter Tessa Prati (junior, Urbandale) had 13 kills and hit
a match-high .650 while middle hitter Katie Pederson (senior,
Lake Mills) had eight kills, hit .429 and made six blocks, including
two solos. Middle hitter Katie Johnson (sophomore, Johnston)
and outside hitter Ali Ripperger (sophomore, Urbandale) each
had six kills, with Johnson added six blocks. Setter Terri Berger
(sophomore, Sioux City, Heelan HS) had 33 assists while libero
Maggie Nowicki (freshman, Madison, Wis., Edgewood HS) had 13
digs and outside hitter Alex Costigan (senior, White Bear Lake,
Minn.) had 10 digs.
Simpson
hit just .070 as the Storm close the year at 21-14. Jayna Fishbach
had nine kills and Marcie McQuinn had 29 assists.
Central
coach Kent Clayberg was impressed with his club’s control
of the net.
“Simpson’s
got some big hitters,” he said. “It’s hard
to time them to make the block. But we did a good job of just
staying patient and start recognizing when to go up.”
The Dutch
prevailed in just 80 minutes, in contrast to the season’s
first Central victory over Simpson meeting at Indianola Sept.
27, a five-game, two hour, five-minute marathon.
“Simpson
played very aggressively at their place and we have to give
them credit,” he said. “But we didn’t feel
like we played very well. We felt that if we played good, consistent
volleyball, we’d be tough to match up with.
“The
big difference between now and the first time we played was
back then, this was a team that gave up a lot of seven-point
runs. We don’t do that anymore. The players understand
it’s a long game and they don’t get rattled.
“So
we’re pretty excited about going to the tournament to
see what we can do.”
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