The Madison College offense had trouble finding holes in a solid Rock Valley College defense for the second time this season. The No. 6 ranked WolfPack lost in three sets at home to their conference rival 21-25, 24-26, 7-25 and are yet to beat the No. 3 ranked Golden Eagles in regular season play since joining the North Central Community College Conference (N4C) last season.
The WolfPack attack was slowed down by a quick-reacting Golden Eagle defense that found just enough room to get under a number of hard hit and steep angled balls. Rock Valley held the WolfPack to 29 kills on 89 attamepts.
The first set got off to a good start, where
Ashley Biesterveld recorded one of her team-high 10 kills. After trailing 9-16 and coming off of a Madison College timeout,
Skye Kapinus got a kill on her second attempt and breathed some new life into the WolfPack. They battled back and got within 20-21 before Rock Valley ultimately won the first set.
In the second set, the WolfPack and
Kapinus started out on ifre, as she got one of her nine kills to start the match as the WolfPack jumped out to an early 3-0 lead.
The lead quickly evaporated and became a back-and-forth battle all the way until the end.
Biesterveld had a huge dig that led to a
Kapinus kill to knot the pivotal second set score to 24-24. Unfortunately, much like the first set, the Golden Eagles took the final two points and the set.
The third set was dominated by the Golden Eagles after they jumped out to a 10-0 lead on the WolfPack. The set was won by the Golden Eagles 25-7. It was the least amount of points the WolfPack have put up in a set the entire season.
The WolfPack recorded no blocks and only served up two aces against Rock Valley.
Ali Waller,
Hannah Schwartzer and
Kelsey Zimmerman had five digs apiece defensively for the WolfPack, who faced one of the toughest offenses they have seen all season.
The loss snapped a six-match winning streak during which the WolfPack never lost a single set. There are four more regular season games for the WolfPack before they enter the postseason. The WolfPack next welcome Joliet Junior College to the Redsten Gymnasium on Oct 15 at 6 p.m. where they will look to start a new winning streak.
