Kirkwood Community College - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Kirkwood volleyball sweeps 2 matches

NORFOLK, Neb. - The Kirkwood women's volleyball team swept a pair of matches against Allen County and Fort Scott Saturday at a tournament in Nebraska.

Erin Wenzel had 14 kills in the 3-0 victory over Allen County. Halle Lueck rolled up 42 assists and Jenna Laxton had 14 digs.

Wenzel and Madsy Richards had nine kills in the 3-0 verdict against Fort Scott. Lueck had 27 assists and Laxton had 14 more digs.

Kirkwood won both of its matches at the tournament Friday and is coming home with a 6-2 record. The Eagles beat Southeast, 3-1, and blanked North Dakota State Science 3-0.

Kirkwood spikes Grand View JV

Halle Lueck collected 37 assists and Erin Wenzel had 22 kills Tuesday night as the Kirkwood volleyball team topped the Grand View junior varsity, 3-1, at Johnson Hall.

Morgan Grimm had 16 digs and Madsy Richards had 10 digs for the Eagles. Natalie Demmel contributed 11 kills.

Kirkwood raised its record to 3-2.

KCC volleyball goes 2-2 in tourney

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - The Kirkwood Eagles split their two matches at the Johnson County volleyball tournament Saturday and finished the event with a 2-2 record.

The Eagles topped Longview, 3-1, and lost to Cowley, 3-0.

Erin Wenzel had 17 kills and Morgan Grimm had 15 kills against Longview. Halle Lueck collected 50 assists and four ace serves.

Grimm led Kirkwood with 14 kills against Cowley. Wenzel had 11 kills and Lueck rolled up 41 assists.

J-Hawks, Nearad honored by Register

Cedar Rapids Jefferson graduates Maddie Hansen and Hannah Towns have been named to the Class 5A all-state softball teams by the Des Moines Register.

Hansen, a catcher, and Towns, an outfielder were named second team all-state in Class 5A.

Taylor Nearad of Solon, who is now a freshman outfielder at Kirkwood, has been named to the Elite All-State Team by the Register. Nearad led the state with 75 RBIs and helped Solon win the Class 3A state title.

Kirkwood volleyball has young team

Kirkwood volleyball coach Jill Williams offered a lot of hands-on instruction to her players during Monday's scrimmage against Clarke University at Johnson Hall.

With 12 freshmen on the club and only three sophomores, the new Eagles have a lot to learn. Four freshmen from last year's team did not return this year for various reasons.

"There's a lot of teaching going on," said Williams. "And I find as a teacher, I've had to learn a lot of different ways to say things.

"Because if they're not picking up on it the first time or the second time, I have to come back and try to find something that they're able to understand and get them to see our system. And you have to see it before you can do it.

"I think that's one of the most difficult things for young kids when they come into any program," she said.

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Hansen, Carter join Kirkwood softball

Joe Yegge thinks serving as the head softball coach at Cedar Rapids Prairie is helping his recruiting efforts at Kirkwood Community College.

Two prime examples this year are Maddie Hansen of Jefferson and Gabi Carter of Prairie, who have finished their all-state careers in high school and have joined Yegge's powerful club at Kirkwood.

Yegge has welcomed other good Metro players to Kirkwood before, but he thinks his three years at Prairie have boosted his efforts in getting more star players to join the Eagles.

Yegge has enjoyed three good seasons at Prairie, including a trip to the state tournament and just the second Mississippi Valley Conference title in school history after the program had languished for years.

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Petersen signs 11 players for Kirkwood

Kirkwood men's basketball coach Bryan Petersen is young and energetic, but he'd rather not have to sign 11 new players every year to keep the Eagles headed in the right direction.

It's a lot of work for Petersen and his assistant coaches, but seven sophomores graduated from this year's club and two freshmen are not coming back.

There were holes to fill and Petersen thinks they've done it well.

"I feel really good about it," he said this week. "It's a group of kids that we feel will fit Kirkwood, not only as basketball players but as good people and good students.

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Kirkwood women find new homes for hoops

The Kirkwood slogan of "Start Here, Go Anywhere" has turned out to be literally true for all nine sophomores who helped the women's basketball team finish fifth at the national tournament this year with a sparkling 31-6 record.

The nine Eagles plan to continue their basketball careers at four-year colleges in Mississippi, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Minnesota, Illinois and Missouri.

"All of them got new homes," Kirkwood Coach Kim Muhl said Tuesday morning at his office in Johnson Hall.

Ariel Sneed is heading to Southern Mississippi. Peyton Bockholt is enrolling at Limestone in South Carolina. Tyra Polite is returning home to Pennsylvania to play at Clarion. Kirsten Larson and Anna Martensen are both going to Wayne State in Nebraska.

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Former KCC player picked by Pirates

Former Kirkwood baseball player Shane Kemp, a right-handed pitcher from Waterloo, was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 26th round of the Major League draft Tuesday.

Kemp compiled a 3-2 record and 4.18 ERA at George Washington University this season. He had a 1-0 mark and 5.68 ERA at Kirkwood in 2014. He also hit .288 for the Eagles in 2014.

Kemp, from Waterloo Columbus High School, was the 787th pick overall in the draft.