Metro Sports Report

KCC volleyball team headed to nationals

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - The Kirkwood women's volleyball team is headed  back to the NJCAA Division II national tournament in West Virginia.

The 14th-ranked Eagles swept Metropolitan Community College, 25-17,  25-20, 25-23, in the district finals Saturday to continue their  postseason surge.

Kirkwood (26-14) advances to the national tournament at the Charleston  Civic Center in Charlestown, W.Va., Nov, 21-23. The Eagles finished  fourth at nationals last year and will be making their sixth trip to  the national tournament in 15 years under Coach Jill Williams.

Anna Gorsich sparked Kirkwood with 13 kills against Metropolitan  (13-24). Peyton Brokovich and Abbie Ericson had nine kills. Aubrin  Dittmer and Taylor Carey contributed five kills in the sweep.

No. 2 Eagles thump No. 1 Kansas City

The showdown between Kirkwood and Kansas City Community College for  bragging rights in NJCAA women's basketball Saturday wasn't much of a  showdown at all.

It was a beat-down.

The second-ranked Kirkwood Eagles scored the first 19 points of the  game and dumped top-ranked Kansas City, 70-50, in the second round of  the Kirkwood Classic at Johnson Hall.

The Eagles (4-0) blanked Kansas City for the first 5 1/2 minutes of  the game while grabbing their 19-0 advantage.

Kirkwood built a 24-point lead at 38-14 midway through the second  quarter. Kansas City rallied and pulled within 10 points at halftime,  44-34, but the Eagles outscored Kansas City 26-16 in the second half  for the comfortable 20-point victory.

Amara Lipsey and Marissa Metz scored 11 points apiece in a balanced  attack for Kirkwood. Paige Bradford, Ju Gaston and Natalie Tomaszewski  contributed 10 points apiece as five Eagles reached double figures.

Kirkwood men crushed by Cowley

COFFEYVILLE, Kan. - The Kirkwood men's basketball team tried to tackle  a strong team from the NJCAA Division I ranks Saturday and paid a  stiff price.

Cowley Community College spanked the Eagles, 109-72, in the second  round of the Community State Bank Classic in Coffeyville, Kan.

Kirkwood is ranked No. 1 in the JuCo Division II ranks, but Cowley  raced to a 61-33 lead at halftime and cruised to the 37-point victory.

Martaveon Jones led five Cowley players in double figures with 18 points.

Cortes leads Mustangs to Heart title

FAYETTE, Mo. - Vanessa Cortes of Mount Mercy raced to victory in the  Heart of America Conference cross country meet Saturday and led the  Mustangs to the team championship.

Cortes covered the 5K course in 19 minutes, 25.4 seconds for a  convincing 18-second victory over Isabella Guerra of Benedictine.

Emily Erickson of Mount Mercy placed fifth, Andrea Ertz finished sixth  and Kelsi Huhndorf was eighth as the Mustangs had four runners finish  in the top-8. Jessica Ertz finished 29th for Mount Mercy to round out  the team scoring.

Mount Mercy finished with 49 points to edge Baker (54) and Benedictine  (56) for the title. The Mustangs earned an automatic berth to the NAIA  national meet Nov. 22 in Vancouver, Wash.