By: Emilie Jenson

Public Information Coodinator 

The No. 8 (NJCAA) Iowa Central Triton Volleyball Team continued their winning streak to eight in a row after a 3-1 victory over No. 19 Des Moines Area in front of a home crowd at Hodges Fieldhouse Thursday night.

The Tritons took set one 25-21 while the Bears took set two 25-16.

"After DMACC flipped the momentum to take set two, our girls also did a great job of staying mentally tough and finding a way to make some adjustments to change the momentum of the match back to us again," said Triton Head Coach Sara Horn.

The Tritons gained momentum in the third and fourth sets, winning set three 25-19 and set four 25-20 to secure the victory.

Sophomore Mercedes Madlock, led the Tritons in assists with 47; Madlock also had 14 digs and two assists. She was recognized for surpassing the 2000 career assists mark with a golden volleyball. Madlock reached 2000 assists in a 3-0 victory over NIACC on Tuesday.

"Mercedes did a great job of distributing the ball to all five of our hitters and finding who was the hot hitter in the right moment," said Horn.  "We are a really hard team to beat when all five of our hitters find kills like that."   

Mya McClain led the Tritons in digs with 24 and had three assists on the night. Noêmia Chiacchio had 17 digs, Madlock 14, Emma Bilheimer nine, Emily Goodner eight, Olivia Benson seven, Alexis Hiracheta four, Olivia Sturgis three, Natalie Hagadon two and Matea Cunningham one dig.

Chiacchio had 15 kills followed by Bilheimer and Goodner each with 11, Araya Garrison with nine, Sturgis with six and Madlock with two.

"This match was a really important match up for conference standings as well as National ratings.  Our girls came out with great energy in set one and really controlled that set from start to finish," said Horn.

The Tritons next face Marshalltown in a road game on September 27 before returning home on October 4 for sophomore night vs. Ellsworth.