Spartans fall to Hawkeye

No. 14-ranked Hawkeye Community College swept Southwestern Tuesday night, 25-17, 25-23, 25-12.

The Redtails, improving to 12-4 overall and 3-1 in Iowa Community College Athletic Conference Division II action, were in a tight battle in set two as the host Spartans worked to tie the match 1-1. Meredith Gettings served three consecutive points to push the Spartans in front, 12-9.

Gettings was again effective at the service line for Southwestern later in the set to tie it at 22-22 with three straight points. But, the Redtails were able to close out a 25-22 win aided by a Nohea Mahi block and a finishing kill by Mallory Tisue.

Pyper McCarville sparked Hawkeye on three consecutive points to start set three with a block, a dump over the net and a sharp angled kill as Southwestern quickly faced a 5-0 deficit to start the third set. The Spartans never got untracked in the 25-12 loss that ended the sweep.

“That second set, we were doing everything we’ve been working on in practice,” SWCC coach Taylor Shipley said. “They were talking, getting the block closed, reading the ball on defense and being aggressive at the net. I think we kind of let off the gas in the third set, where we started to play a little more timid and we saw a few more errors.”

Falling behind 5-0 after nearly winning the second set was an untimely letdown, the Spartan coach said.

“If we didn’t have to dig ourselves out of that hole right out of the gate it could have been a different game,” Shipley said.

Hawkeye’s front line negated much of the Spartan offense, as Hallica Warren-Anderson and Sophie Lyle tied for the team lead with three kills. Emily Strait and Lexi Hahn each finished with nine digs. Setters Beatriz Goncalves and Jayda Chew compiled seven and six assists, respectively.

The Spartans fell to 2-9 overall and 1-3 in the conference heading into Thursday’s trip to Marshalltown (5-3, 2-0).

SWCC statistics

Kills — Hallica Warren-Anderson 3, Sophie Lyle 3.

Blocks — Warren-Anderson 1, Beatriz Goncalves 1, Meredith Gettings 1.

Digs — Lexi Hahn 9, Emily Strait 9.

Assists — Goncalves 7, Jayda Chew 6.

Service aces — Gettings 2.