By: Emilie Jenson
Public Information Coordinator
The No. 11 Iowa Central Triton Volleyball Team increased their winning streak to 7 while completing a perfect 4-0 weekend at their home tournament, the Iowa Central Invitational this weekend.
In game one, the Tritons came out on top 3-1 over Neosho, falling 27-25 to the Panthers in set one before winning set two 25-22, set three 25-15 and set four 25-18.
Mya McClain led the Tritons in game one digs with 18 follwed by Mercedes Madlock with 17, Noêmia Chiacchio and Olivia Benson each with eight and Emma Bilhimer and Alexis Hiracheta with four digs each. Madlock led the way in assists with 40 and Bilhimer led with 16 kills followed by Chiacchio with 15.
In game two, the Tritons took on Central of Columbus, Nebraska, winning 3-1 in four sets. The Tritons dropped the first set, 22-25 and won 25-19 in set two, 25-15 in set three, and 25-8 in the final set.
Mercedes Madlock led the Tritons in assists with 49, Mya McClain led in digs with 22 followed by Noêmia Chiacchio's 16 digs. Chiacchio also had 20 kills.
Saturday's games were battles between ranked teams as the Tritons saw No. 13 Illinois Central and No. 18 Bismark State.
The Tritons won in four over the Cougars of Illinois Central, falling 18-25 in set one. Iowa Central bounced back and won the next three sets 25-13, 25-23 and 25-20.
In game three, Noêmia Chiacchio and Mercedes Madlock each had 16 digs to lead the Tritons. Madlock led in assists with 35 and Chiacchio led in kills with 14. Olivia Benson had 11 digs for the Tritons while Alexis Hiracheta had 10 and Emma Bilhimer and Natalie Hagadon each had six digs.
The Tritons won 3-0 over No. 18 Bismarck State College to round out the weekend 25-14, 25-17, and 25-22.
The Tritons had 61 digs in game four led by Mya McClain's 14 followed by Olivia Benson's 10, Alexis Hiracheta's nine, Mercedes Madlock's eight and Noêmia Chiacchio's seven. Emma Bilhimer and Natalie Hagadon each had three digs, Leah Jolly had two and Olivia Sturgis one dig.
Madlock led the Tritons in assists, earning 28 of Iowa Central's 31.
The Tritons will wrap up a stretch of home games this week on Wednesday, September 6 when they face ICCAC Conference foe and No. 7 ranked Eagles of Kirkwood at 7 p.m. in Hodges Fieldhouse. They will then travel for eight road games before returning to their home court on September 21 vs. DMACC.