The Iowa Central Volleyball team traveled to Arkansas City, Kansas to compete in the Cowley Invitational this weekend. The Tritons, coming off of a victory over #16 NECC on Wednesday, would face #11 NEO, NJCAA D1 Barton County, (RV) Carl Sandburg, and #6 Cowley.
First up for the Tritons was a rematch with Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (NEO). The Tritons dropped an 0-3 match to NEO on September 1st. The Tritons opened up strong, winning the first two sets 25-19 and 28-26, before dropping the next two sets 18-25, 23-25. Iowa Central started set 5 strong and never looked back, winning the set, and match, 15-8. Stat leaders were Libby Zorn 18 kills, Amaya Finley with 15, and Asarar Gony with 13. Abby Lohrmann dished out 52 assists. Kryssie Okinaka tied a school record with 44 digs, while Lohrmann chipped in a career high 35 digs. Middles Gony and Kayla Faldet led the blockers with 7 and 6 blocks, respectively.
The 2nd match had the Tritons matched up with Barton County. The Tritons survived their 2nd 5 set match of the night, winning 25-22, 25-18, 26-28, 17-25, 15-13. Set leaders were Amaya Finley with 23 kills, Libby Zorn with 13 kills, and Hannah Murray with 10 kills on a .320 attacking %. Abby Lohrmann had 51 assists. The Tritons had 14 ace serves, with Sydney Oliver serving 4 aces, and Hannah Murray, Amaya Finley, and Libby Zorn each adding 3. Taylor Bienemann had a career high 24 digs to lead the defense with Kryssie Okinaka adding 23 digs. Gony and Faldet led the blockers with 3 a piece.
Saturday morning the Tritons started off with a win over Carl Sandburg College. Scores of the match were 17-25, 25-15, 25-18, and 25-18. Leaders for the Tritons were Libby Zorn with 16 kills and Amaya Finley with 14. Abby Lohrmann had 42 assists. Hannah Murray had 5 service aces. Kryssie Okinaka had 26 digs, Lohrmann added 22. Asarar Gony led the blockers with 5.
The last match for Iowa Central was a rematch and the 2nd of 3 matches scheduled with #6 Cowley. The Tritons knocked off Cowley on September 21st 3-1. Both teams used momentum to pull ahead in their winning sets, splitting, 25-19, 12-25, 19-25, 25-19. The 5th set started off back and forth, with the Tritons going back to serve at 3-3. An unusual redcard given to the Cowley Cheerleaders got the crowd on their feet, and Cowley would use the home court momentum to go on a run, finishing the 5th set 15-7. Stat leaders for the match were Amaya Finley with 21 kills, Abby Lohrmann with 43 assists, Kryssie Okinaka with 40 digs, and Kayla Faldet and Finley with 3 blocks.
The Tritons are now 19-7 on the year. Next up this week is a conference match at SECC on Wednesday, and a match up with #1 Johnson County and #3 Coffeyville at Boone on Friday.