NORFOLK – The postseason journey for the Northeast Community College’s volleyball team continues after the Hawks defeated Iowa Lakes Community College here Wednesday in a thrilling five set National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XI District A Semi-Final match. The scores were 25-16, 20-25, 27-25, 22-25, 19-17. Iowa Lakes ends the season with a 30-12 record.
Amanda Schultze, Hawks coach, is pleased how her players performed, especially in the final set.
“The girls played very well tonight and came back and fought hard to get the win. We were down 5-11 in the fifth set and the girls played hard and stayed relaxed and came back to win it 19-17. We as coaches are very proud of how they handled it and how the captains led them to the end.”
The Hawks were led by Taryn Luedtke’s 16 kills while Tabby Kander recorded 15, Kelsey Shoemaker had 13 and Courtni Kunz had ten.
Shoemaker also recorded seven blocks while Kunz, Layne Mitchell and Bridget Schneider had six, five and four assist blocks, respectively. Schneider, Rachel Brandl and Meagan Backer had one ace serve each. Backer finished with 30 digs, Brandl had 26 and Mackenzie Wecker registered 21. Schneider also had 55 assists.
Northeast (17-16) will now take on #5 Des Moines Area Community College (31-8) in a NJCAA Region XI District C Championship game on Saturday, at Iowa Lakes Community College in Estherville, IA. The game begins at 12 p.m. The winner advances to the NJCAA National Tournament.