ROCKFORD, ILL. - In their first action under new head coach Mallory (Dixon) Stone, the Madison College women's volleyball team showed some ability and grit in going 2-2 at the Opening Weekend Tournament hosted by McHenry County College. The WolfPack played a pair of five-set match on Friday, losing to North Iowa Area Community College before defeating St. Louis Community College. Day two on Saturday opened with a four-set victory over Bryant & Stratton College (VA), and closed with a loss in three sets to three-time defending national champion Owens Community College. 

Match #1 (Friday): North Iowa Area Community College 3, Madison College 2 (13-25, 25-19, 25-21, 18-25, 15-9)

The season's first match started with a bang for Madison College, rolling to a 12-point first set win as the WolfPack recorded nine kills and hit at a .350 clip. Ten hitting errors in the second set and a back-and-forth third set put NIACC ahead two-sets-to-one. The Pack kept fighting and forced a decisive fifth set, but ultimately fell six points shy. The WolfPack posted 49 kills and a .183 attack percentage for the match, outhitting the Trojans by seven kills. They also held a 16-7 edge in service aces and a 7-5 advantage in blocks.

Freshman outside hitter Tyra Anderson racked up a match- and season-high 17 kills in her collegiate debut. The Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, native hit at a .190 efficiency on 42 attack attempts, and completed her first career double-double with ten digs. She also added three aces and a block.

Fellow first year outside hitter and former Sun Prairie HS athlete Kendall Weisensel added her name to the list of double-doubles with 11 kills and a team-leading 15 digs. She hit .167 and was one of two players to record five asses. Setter Daryn Schaefer had 29 assists and five aces, and was one of three players with two blocks. Sophomore Mariah Best registered 17 assists. 

NIACC (1-0) owns a 4-3 lead in the all-time series and have won three straight.

Match #2 (Friday): Madison College 3, St. Louis Community College 2 (23-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-6, 15-9)

Madison College's early season conditioning was tested on the opening day with a second consecutive five-set match, and this time the WolfPack were able to finish on top. Despite hitting an impressive .417 in the opening set with 11 kills, the Pack drop the set by two points. They took advantage of 11 Archers attack errors in the second set to pull even, and recovered from a third-set loss to dismantle SLCC (0-2) in one of the program's most lopsided set wins of all-time. In the final set, Madison College made fewer mistakes en route to a 15-9 tally for the season's first win in the first all-time meeting between the two programs.

Madison College carried a slim edge in total kills, and served up double-digit aces for the second straight match. The match may be been decided defensively at the net, where the Pack dominated with nine blocks to just one for the Archers.

First year middle blocker Gabby Hack was a forced to be reckoned with, establishing season- and match-high's with 16 kills and five blocks. The native of Lake Mills, Wisconsin, also had six digs and two aces. Kendall Weisensel collected team-high's with 20 digs and five aces, while also posting six kills and a block. Tyra Anderson finished with 12 digs, six kills, and an ace. Setter Daryn Schaefer led the offense with 29 assists and completed a double-double with ten digs, to go along with four aces.

Match #3 (Saturday): Madison College 3, Bryant & Stratton College (VA) 2 (22-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-23)

The WolfPack and Bobcats fought tooth-and-nail over four sets, and after the Virginia-based Bryant & Stratton College (0-3) secured a first set win, Madison College was able to pull off three straight for a second straight match victory. The Pack improved their hitting over the first three sets, eventually netting ten kills and just one attack error for a .346 efficiency in the third set. An 11-kill fourth set and 16 total aces for the second time in three matches improved Madison College to a 2-1 record. 

Tyra Anderson stood out with her second double-double of the weekend, which didn't even include an impressive performance at the service line. Her nine aces make Anderson the seventh player in program history to reach that number or more in a single match. Anderson also had ten kills and ten digs.

Setters Daryn Schaefer and Mariah Best finished with 18 and 14 assists, respectively. Best, a second year from Waunakee, Wisconsin, had three aces. Freshman libero/defensive specialist Katie Wagner amassed a season-high 19 digs, followed by Kendall Weisensel with 17.

The match was the first-ever meeting between the team programs.

Match #4 (Saturday): #1 Owens Community College 3, Madison College 0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-12)

Saturday's final match of the OWT put the WolfPack across the net from the #1-ranked team in the NJCAA Division III Preseason Poll. Madison College was not fazed at the start, building a double-digit lead on the defending champs before the Express rallied back for a three-point win. They went on to secure set wins by ten and 13 points to close out the sweep.

Madison College had nine kills and a .214 percentage in the opening set, and finished with a .129 efficiency. Owens Community College (1-1) finished with ten more total kills and a .253 attack percentage. 

Kendall Weisensel was tops for the Pack with eight kills and two aces. The freshman hit a team-best .318. Daryn Schaefer collected 16 assists, and Tyra Anderson led the defensive effort with eight digs.

The Express have won both meetings in the all-time series, including a win in an early season tournament in 2018.

Up Next:

Madison College (2-2) will hold its home opener at H. Douglas Redsten Gymnasium on Wednesday, August 25 against Morton College, which went 3-1 in their four matches at the OWT. The two Region 4 programs have never met before. First serve is set for 5:00 p.m. and can be streamed live at MadisonCollege.tv.

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