ROCHESTER, MINN. - With one of the season's top matches looming in the week ahead, the Madison College volleyball team remained focused on the task at hand and posted an impressive 3-1 record at the Toppers Pizza Volleyball Invitational (formerly the Rochester CTC Invitational) at the UCR Regional Sports Complex over the weekend. The #2 WolfPack opened Friday with a tough five-set win over NJCAA Division II and #20 Des Moines Area Community College, gaining some revenge for the season's first loss against the Bears in August. They followed it up with a sweep of NJCAA DII #10 Northland Community & Technical College. Saturday's slate proved to be an exhausting challenge, as well, as Madison College opened with another five-set win over NJCAA DIII Central Lakes College-Brainerd before succumbing to NCAA DIII Bethel University JV in their only setback of the weekend.

Match #1: #2 Madison College 3, #20 Des Moines Area Community College (IA) 2

In a rematch from a four-set setback on August 25 at the Battle for the Dells, Madison College traded sets with DMACC, 25-23, 12-25, 25-19, and 17-25, and eventually won the decisive fifth set by a 15-10 margin. The WolfPack posted better than .300 attack percentages in each of their three set wins, while hitting worse than .030 in their two losing sets. Helping to make the win possible was an astounding collection of 102 digs, a season high.

Sophomore Megan Corcoran was the lone player with double-digit kills, finishing with 16. Sophomore transfer Reagan Goupil tallied nine kills on a team-best .364 hitting percentage. Corcoran was one of three WolfPack players to register a double-double in the match, adding 16 digs to her stat line. Setters Keely Brown and Olivia Darkow achieved the other two double-doubles. Brown, a sophomore from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, had 17 assists and 21 digs. Darkow, a freshman from West Bend, Wisconsin, posted a team-leading 20 assists and 14 digs. Freshman Maddie Scalissi led the defensive effort with 22 digs, and fellow first year Kendra Nicolay added 11. Mariah Capra and Samantha Jacobsen each had 3.0 blocks.

Madison College is now 2-3 all-time against the Bears (6-5).

Match #2: #2 Madison College 3, #10 Northland Community & Technical College (MN) 0

The momentum from the day's first win carried into a highly anticipated match with the Pioneers (4-2), a match that Madison College turned into a one-side affair. Behind a season-high .447 attack percentage, the 'Pack had 40 kills and just six attack errors while holding the tenth-ranked team in Division III to a total of 34 points over three sets. After taking the opening two sets by scores of 25-10 and 25-18, Madison College routed Northland, 25-6, in the clinching set behind a .500 hit percentage. Aiding in the win were ten service aces, marking the fifth match this season with double-digit aces.

Sophomore transfer Lori Sanders was the top hitting frontline player for the WolfPack with eight kills, one better than Megan Corcoran. Freshman Mariah Capra was one of two players with six kills and led Madison College with an .857 hitting percentage. Capra, a native of Turtle Lake, Wisconsin, also paced the team defensively with 4.0 blocks. Olivia Darkow led the team in assists for the second straight match, amassing 19 to go along with nine digs and three aces. Keely Brown had eleven assists and Maddie Scalissi's effort totaled 11 digs.

The match win gives the WolfPack a 3-0 lead in the all-time series.

Match #3: #2 Madison College 3, Central Lakes College-Brainerd (MN) 2

Saturday's opening match may have been Madison College's most challenging with each set score within five points of each other, 23-25, 25-23, 24-26, 25-21, and 15-10. Central Lakes (10-4) consistently outhit the WolfPack, posting a better attack percentage in all five sets and for the match overall (.482 to .244). But Madison College's scrappy defense came through with a 95-77 edge in digs, while the offense was aided by the team's second consecutive match with double-figure aces (12). The 'Pack is now 2-1 on the season in five-set matches.

Freshman outside hitter Paige Hostetler hammered home a season-high 19 kills for the WolfPack. The former Bay Port HS athlete hit at a .348 clip en route to her third double-digit kills match of the season. Sophomore opposite Samantha Jacobsen tallied ten kills in the match, while versatile setter Keely Brown proved to be the team's most efficient hitter with a .714 attack percentage and five kills. The sophomore dished out 18 assists, four shy of freshman Olivia Darkow's 22, as both racked up double-doubles with 14 and 12 digs, respectively. Defensive specialist/libero Maddie Scalissi again led in the digs category with 23. Megan Corcoran (20) and Kendra Nicolay (14) also surpassed the ten digs threshold. Corcoran led the parade of aces with four.

Match #4: Bethel University (MN) JV 3, #2 Madison College 0

In its final match of the tournament, the WolfPack couldn't find enough answers late in each set before falling, 25-22, 25-22, and 25-23 to the Royals. Madison College posted a .220 attack percentage with 30 kills and ten errors as its four-match win streak came to a close.

For the second consecutive match, freshman Paige Hostetler was the top hitter with nine kills on 23 attack attempts. Fellow first year Olivia Darkow had a team-leading 14 assists, just ahead of Keely Brown's ten. And Maddie Scalissi dug up 14 opposition attacks, with Mariah Capra leading the WolfPack block with 2.0.

Up Next:

Madison College (15-4, 4-0) will host one of the most highly anticipated matches in the country on Tuesday, September 19 when Harper College (14-3, 3-0) comes to H. Douglas Redsten Gymnasium for a #1 versus #2 matchup. The defending national, regional, and conference champions won all three head-to-head matches last season, and has won five of the last six gatherings, though the WolfPack still own a 16-12 lead all-time. The matchup of team's undefeated in North Central Community College Conference play begins at 6:00 p.m. and is also Alumni Night for the program.

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