Volleyball bounced by conference rival

Madison+College%E2%80%99s+Calla+Borchert+%2810%29+and+Isabella+Carrillo+team+up+to+block+an+opponent+during+a+recent+home+match.

Christina Gordon/Clarion

Madison College’s Calla Borchert (10) and Isabella Carrillo team up to block an opponent during a recent home match.

Christina Gordon, Sports Editor

The WolfPack volleyball team opened up the North Central Community College Conference schedule on Aug. 30 in Madison against rival Harper College.

Unable to come back from Harper College’s early run the WolfPack lost in three straight sets (25-18, 25-14, 25-18). The WolfPack volleyball team’s hitting percentage was just 1.4 percent compared to Harper’s 11 percent. 

Freshman Calla Borchert lead the team in hitting percentage with .57.1 percent and four kills.  Sophomore Olivia Marron lead the WolfPack with five kills. Freshman Lena LaFleur had her second straight match with 10 or more assists, ending the game with 14 assists and a team-high four aces. 

Freshman Amelia Walton had her second game with 10 or more digs, finishing the match with a season-high 15 digs. Freshman Sidni Walgurski put up a wall in the middle for the WolfPack with four blocks.

A day after the hard loss to Harper College, the WolfPack were at the College of DuPage Chaparral Invite in DuPage, Illinois.  While at the invite the WolfPack went 1-3.

The WolfPack got their only win in the first match of the invitational against Black Hawk College-Moline.  The WolfPack swept the Braves in three straight sets (25-23, 25-17, 25-15). 

Sophomore Samantha Kessenich brought the offense for the WolfPack.  Kessenich had a career-high 11 kills and a team-high .611 attack percentage. LaFleur had her fourth match of the season with 20 or more assists, finishing with 25.  In the back court, the WolfPack was led by Marron with 14 digs.  Sophomore Cathleen Flannery led the team in aces with four and in blocks with three. 

The second game of the invite for the WolfPack was against St. Cloud Technical College. After losing the first two sets the WolfPack fought hard in the third set but ended up falling in extra points, and lost to the Cyclone’s in three sets (25-19, 25-16, 27-25). 

Flannery hit 53.3 percent while having nine kills, and had two aces on the game. LaFleur had 22 assists and two aces. The back court was led by Walton with nine digs. 

The second day of the invite had the WolfPack up against ninth-ranked Minnesota State Community & Technical College-Fergus Falls. The WolfPack fought hard but lost n four sets (25-17, 25-15, 25-23, 25-19).

The WolfPack was led by Borchert with 11 kills and four aces. Walgurski posted 7 kills and had a team high 58.3 hitting percentage.  LaFleur had another match where she had 20 assists.  The WolfPack had two players with 10 or more digs, Marron had 11 digs while freshman Jaidyn Lange had 10.

The final match of the College of DuPage Chaparral Invite came against Rochester Community & Technical College YellowJackets. The WolfPack was within fighting distance the entire match but could not pull ahead of the Yellowjackets, and ended up falling in three sets (25-20, 25-20, 25-17).

The WolfPack had 27 kills on the match, 10 by Flannery. Walton led the back court once again with 15 digs. Freshman Kaleia Lawrence led the WolfPack in assists with 10.

After the weekend invite the WolfPack had a few days before traveling back to DuPage for a conference match. It took five sets for the WolfPack to come out with the victory. The WolfPack had two players with 10 or more kills, three players with 10 or more digs, two players with 10 or more assists, two with three aces a piece. The WolfPack also had a season best in four different categories. 

Walgurski led the team with 12 kills, while Flannery was close behind her with 10. The back court came alive for the WolfPack. Walton had 28 digs to lead the team, while sophomore Sage Esser had 15 and Marron had 11. LaFleur and Lawrence had a combined 35 assists between them.

The WolfPack had a season high in kills with 48, with the WolfPack having three sets with 10 or more kills.  The WolfPack also had season highs in assists with 39, aces with 10, and digs with 88.

The WolfPack then traveled to Rochester for the YellowJacket Volleyball Invitational, where the WolfPack went 0-4. 

The first game of the invite was against a tough team from Iowa, the Des Moines Area Community College Bears. The WolfPack lost in three straight sets (25-10, 25-12, 25-5).

The second game of the YellowJacket invite was against another Iowa team in the Iowa Central Community College. After a quick first set loss, the WolfPack came back to win the second set before losing the next two sets in a close-fought match (25-13, 25-23, 25-21, 26-24).

The second day of the YellowJacket Invite started out with the WolfPack facing Central Lakes College Raiders from Brainerd, MN. Against the Raiders the WolfPack fought hard but was not able to come out with the win and lost in four sets (25-21, 25-22, 25-23, 25-14). 

The last game of the invite for the WolfPack was against the host Rochester Community & Technical College.  This was the second time in a week that the WolfPack was up against the YellowJackets.  The WolfPack were not able to come up with the win for the second time in a week and lost in three straight sets (25-10, 25-18, 25-14).