Facing competition outside of the NJCAA's Division III is nothing new to the Madison College women's volleyball team this season. Winning outside of their division isn't new either, just ask Parkland College and most recently Carthage College JV.
Within a 24-hour time span the WolfPack competed against their second-straight NCAA Division III JV squad when they traveled to Whitewater to play the Warhawks on Oct. 19. Instead of going five sets deep like they did against the Lady Reds, this match lasted for just three sets in favor of the WolfPack, 25-22, 25-19, 25-15.
The margin of victory per set widened as the match progressed for the WolfPack. The improved play in each set separated the WolfPack from the Warhawks. With the win, the WolfPack improved to 9-4 against opponents outside of NJCAA Division III.
The offensive attack was more dominant in each set. After being limited to seven kills in the first set they killed the ball 11 times in the second and posted 15 kills in the third. The third set was also impressive for a WolfPack team that had just two attacking errors after accumulating five in each of the first two sets.
Ashley Biesterveld converted 13 kills on 30 attempts to lead the offense and added on six digs to her team-high 270 kills and 196 digs.
Hilary Frey and
Kelsey Zimmerman added six kills apiece to the WolfPack attack.
The team's two setters,
Kirsten Halma and
Leah Monti, contributed to the victory with 28 assists, raising their combined season total to 807.
In a match where the offense improved every match, the WolfPack relied on a balanced effort throughout the match on their defense. Defensively, they relied heavily on
April Testman's three blocks and
Hannah Schwartzer's 12 digs.
The WolfPack (22-7, 9-2) will carry their three-match winning streak into River Grove, Ill.when they play Triton College in their final regular season match of the year on Oct. 21 at 7:00 p.m. After playing their third match in four days, the WolfPack will have off until Oct. 27 when they meet Milwaukee Area Technical College in the opening round of the Region IV Tournament.
