Spartans clip Eagles in five

Two years ago, coach Melissa Blessington’s Southwestern team rose up and knocked off nationally-ranked Kirkwood to qualify for the NJCAA tournament.

Wednesday night, 13th-ranked Kirkwood was again the victim of the biggest Spartan victory since that 2013 regional final, and it was the biggest victory of Ting Liu’s two years as head coach.

Her Spartans got off to a good start and maintained enough momentum to hand the Eagles their first conference loss, 25-17, 15-25, 25-16, 15-25, 15-8.

The ICCAC Division II standings tightened in the process, leaving Kirkwood in a first-place tie with fourth-ranked DMACC at 5-1, and 20-9 overall. Iowa Central is just a half-game back at 4-1. No. 19 Iowa Lakes and 14th-ranked Northeast Nebraska are right behind at 3-2.

SWCC stands sixth in the league at 2-3, and 10-10 overall.

“Coach told us they were the first team in the conference after it was over,” said freshman setter Hanna Luther of Creston. “We were pretty excited. That was fun.”

Luther finished with 37 setting assists, four digs and three kills.

Liu said she saw potential in her young team (three sophomores) in some previous narrow defeats to ranked teams, such as a 3-2 loss at Northeast.

“We lost a couple games in five against national ranking teams,” Liu said. “We thought our girls had the potential, we just had to show it. Tonight they did.”

All-region outside hitter Carmen Subbert of Stanton said it’s a step forward for a team that struggled to a record of 10-28 (2-6 conference) her freshman season.

“I definitely feel like we’re making an impression this year,” Subbert said. “Our team chemistry is better this year. I feel like we communicate better than we did last year. We’re getting excited more.”

Luther, likewise, cited the energy on the court that carried the team through some excessively long rallies with the talented Eagles. Southwestern won a majority of those Wednesday, including one long rally that included a pair of sharp attacks by Subbert, ending with a block by Luther. Libero Krechele Brown saved many would-be Kirkwood kills with her 22 digs.

“We’ve really been working on talking a lot and keeping our energy,” Luther said. “We really put that into play tonight. At one point in the game they (Kirkwood) started yelling at each other and we picked up on that.”

Kirkwood coach Jill Williams gave credit to an improved Spartan squad for standing up to the challenge after her team tied the match 1-1 with the convincing 25-15 victory. Southwestern answered with the 25-16 set to go ahead 2-1.

“We got up on them a few times, but they didn’t’ lose their composure,” Williams said. “They kept fighting back. They didn’t have anything to lose. They said, ‘Let’s go for it.’ And they did.”

Williams noted the outside hitting attack of the Spartans Wednesday, and part of that was the result of a lineup switch employed by Liu.

“Brooke Decker was a middle hitter and now she’s a right side hitter,” Liu said. “Marie Palmer switched from the right side to the middle. We did this to get both of them more hits.”

Luther said the switch plays to the strengths of both Decker, a 6-foot freshman from Muscatine, and Palmer, the 6-2 freshman from Corning.

“Brooke is such a powerhouse on the outside. It’s nice having her there as an option,” Luther said. “Marie in the middle, she’s quick and such a big blocker for us there.”

Subbert also likes the change, which takes some of the opponent’s attention away from her on the opposite side. Luther directs the attack with her setting.

“Hanna hustles for every ball and you know she’s giving it her all,” Subbert said. “She did a nice job switching it up, giving it up to the outside and the right side. She makes pretty smart decisions.”

Another outside hitter, sophomore transfer Xuntong “Wendy” Zhang, was hot Wednesday with 16 kills while Subbert had a team-high 17. Madison Walston had eight and Decker finished with six.

“Wendy played smart tonight,” Liu said. “Not a lot of hitting errors.”

Brittany Langendoerfer helped the defense with 10 digs.

Southwestern (10-10) will have four opponents this weekend in tournament action at DMACC in Boone. On Friday, the Spartans face Johnson County at 3 p.m. and Hesston College at 5 p.m. Saturday’s action includes a match against Parkland College at noon and Longview Community College at 4 p.m.

SWCC 3, Kirkwood 2

Kills — Carmen Subbert 17, Xuntong Zhang 16, Madison Walston 8, Brooke Decker 6, Marie Palmer 3, Hanna Luther 3.

Digs — Krechele Brown 22, Subbert 22, Brittany Langendoerfer 10, Zhang 8, Luther 4.

Blocks (solo-assists) — Walston 0-2, Palmer 0-1, Decker 1-1, Zhang 0-1, Subbert 1-0.

Service aces — Zhang 2, Luther 1, Brown 1.

Setting assists — Luther 37.