Spartans fall at home, 3-1

It was a case of the same song, different verse, for the Southwestern volleyball team Monday night.

Less than a week after yielding a 2-1 match lead as Marshalltown gained its first win on SWCC’s Rita Schroeder Court, the Spartans were poised to force a fifth set against visiting Southeast (Nebraska).

The Bobcats came into Monday’s match at 5-13 overall, while the Spartans were 2-14 after dropping two weekend matches at Cloud County (Kansas). Southeast won two of the first three sets.

Set four was even most of the way, but when Addison Martin powered a kill down the left side and Danica Chamberlain served an ace along the right sideline, the Spartans were suddenly on the verge of victory leading 22-19. Moments later it reached 23-20, just two points from forcing a fifth set to 15 points.

Southwestern, hampered by a hitting error and serving error, never scored again. Southeast hitters Alexis Rupiper amd Addy Palmer stroked kills and the final point was a deep ace serve during a 5-0 run to close out the set and the match, 25-23.

Southwestern coach Brianna Maitlen said fundamental mistakes, especially in close matches at home, are keeping the Spartans from generating momentum even though the play on the court is often improved from her inaugural 6-27 season in 2024.

“We beat ourselves,” Maitlen said. “We had double digits of missed serves (15). Those are easy points. We’re not hitting with our snap on our attacks. So when we try to hit it hard, it goes to the back wall. We do it well in practice, and then in matches, especially at home, we get tense.”

The Spartans ended with 24 errors in 128 attacks.

Maitlen said communication was lacking on some critical Southeast points that came either on deep ace serves, or tips that fell to the floor in the middle of the defense.

“We need all six to be talking. We don’t know where each other is at, then we’re getting out of position,” Maitlen said. “We have to realize the opposition isn’t going to serve to us, that they will be serving to make us move. We have to talk out there. This is a step up from high school, and we’re not playing that way.”

On the positive side, Southwestern rallied from a 23-21 deficit to gain a 25-23 victory in set two to even the match 1-1, behind three straight service points by Chamberlain. Martin found an opening on a tip, and Chamberlain served two successive aces.

“We were starting to pick up energy and playing good volleyball,” Maitlen said. “In the last two games we weren’t as sharp with our passes and sets in the last two games.”

Martin led the Spartans with 12 of the team’s 36 kills. Maddie Richter added seven. Skyelar Lawal had five kills and two blocks. Setter Cadence Perkins led the team in both assists (27) and digs (17). Libero Sophie Rahe had 15 digs.

Southwestern and North Iowa Area Community College (8-7, 0-3 ICCAC) will both be seeking their first conference win Wednesday night in Mason City. This weekend the Panthers compete in the Kansas City (Kansas) Tournament.

SWCC statistics

Kills — Addie Martin 12, Maddie Richter 7, Skyelar Lawal 5, Gabi Cardenas 4, Danyelle Steinkuehler 3, Cadence Perkins 3.

Setting assists — Perkins 27, Sophie Rahe 3.

Digs — Perkins 17, Rahe 15, Richter 13, Emma Follmann 13, Chamberlain 8, Cardenas 3.

Blocks — Lawal 2, Richter 1.

Serving aces — Chamberlain 3, Rahe 2, Perkins 2, Savanna Marriott 1.