Premium ContentClick on Premium Content on the Featured navigation bar for information.
COUNCIL BLUFFS — Three of the top four seeds made it through the opening day of the NJCAA Volleyball Championship unscathed. The one that didn't was the host team.
No. 8 Missouri-West Plains knocked off fifth-ranked Iowa Western 17-25, 25-16, 25-13, 25-20 to join No. 3 Western Nebraska, No. 4 Salt Lake (Utah) and No. 6 Southern Idaho in tonight's 6:30 semifinals at the Mid-America Center.
The Reivers (41-5), who play Frank Phillips (Texas) at 2:30 p.m., can finish no better than fifth.
IWCC, which struggled to a five-set win over 22-22 Temple (Texas) in the opening round, began its quarterfinal match strong. But it fell behind in the second set and was never really in the match from that point on.
“West Plains turned up the heat,” Iowa Western coach Darrin McBroom said. “And from that point forward defensively, we were unable to stop them.”
The Reivers, who lacked aggression offensively in their matches Thursday, hit .393 in the opening set. Their hitting percentages for the final three games were minus-.048, .029 and .127. Suzy Xu had 18 kills and was the only consistent threat for IWCC.
West Plains (26-8) had a lot to do with that. The Grizzlies grabbed a 7-4 advantage early in the second set and never let up. They led by 10 at one point in that set before winning the third by 12.
“The thing we've done all year is serve well and pass well,” first-year West Plains head coach Paula Wiedemann said. “When you do that, you put yourself in a position, even when a team is playing well, to win games.”
The win was the second straight by the Grizzlies over Iowa Western after they were beaten by the Reivers in Council Bluffs on the opening weekend of the season. West Plains then was playing without All-American Kate Stepanova, who had an injured ankle, and went 1-3 at Kanesville Arena.
Stepanova had 20 kills and 16 digs in the quarterfinal match to help West Plains advance.
The Grizzlies face Western Nebraska in one of the semifinal matches.
The Cougars (41-3) beat Frank Phillips (Texas) 25-17, 25-22, 20-25, 25-16 after getting past Wallace State-Hanceville (Ala.) in their opener.
Like West Plains, WNCC is playing in its 11th consecutive national tournament. And this will be the Cougars' sixth straight appearance in the semifinals.
“It starts with the tradition that we have,” said Western Nebraska coach Giovanna Melo, who got 15 kills from Kaleinani Kabalis in the quarterfinal win. “The girls work hard to get where they are.”
Top-seeded Salt Lake and Southern Idaho will meet in the other semifinal. The Bruins (29-7) swept No. 15 Hillsborough 25-21, 25-15, 25-20 behind 12 kills from LaKell Havens and 10 from Erika Charry. Southern Idaho beat No. 7 Miami Dade 25-21, 21-25, 25-20, 25-15. Jessica Peacock led the Golden Eagles with 15 kills.
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
