The venue was slightly different, but the end result was the same for the Iowa Central volleyball team Sunday.

After claiming the ICCAC regular season title and No. 1 seed in the Region XI-A Tournament, the Tritons were upset by Kirkwood inside Hodges Fieldhouse in four.
Scores were 25-23, 20-25, 25-21 and 26-24.

Last year, the Eagles (25-14 overall) pulled the same stunner, ousting Iowa Central (33-6). That regional tournament took place at St. Edmond High School due to a scheduling conflict.

Kirkwood will now advance to the North Central district championship this Saturday for a spot in the NJCAA Div. II National Tournament. They will face Metropolitan in Missouri.

With the loss by the Tritons, Northeast claimed the automatic bid to nationals after defeating No. 2 seed North Iowa Area in five, 23-25, 25-18, 25-19, 20-25 and 15-13.

Amaya Finley, who earlier this year became the program leader in kills, led the way with 22. She also had 19 digs in her final match as a Triton.

Kealey Anderson, a freshman, added 18 kills and 22 digs with three block assists. Karolayne Santos chipped in six kills, Easton Swanson had four, Haley Alharithy three and Abbie Stewart two.

Taylor Bienemann recorded 27 digs and Alesha Johnson had nine with 25 assists. Katie Godfredsen had 19 assists and 12 digs on the day.

Santos, Stewart and Alharithy all had one solo block each.

The fourth set featured an early lead by the Eagles, as they tallied eight of the first 11 points. Iowa Central clawed its way back, tying it at 16-all, 20-all and 23-all before taking set-point at 24-23.

For the Tritons, this was the final match for sophomores Finley, Bienemann, Santos, Godfredsen, Stewart, Olivia Wilson, Delaney Spinks, Shay Karmazyn, Emily Tufts, Sydni George, Darlynn Okinaka, Taylor Light and Hannah Huss.

Finley and Anderson were both named to the all-region tournament team for their efforts.

The national tournament takes place Nov. 21-23 in West Virginia.