The Kirkwood volleyball team put on a good show for their special guests at Johnson Hall Wednesday night.

The eighth-ranked Eagles dumped Iowa Lakes, 25-10, 25-11, 25-17, in a conference meet before a crowd that included about 50 young female athletes from Harding Middle School.

"We didn't know they were coming tonight, so it was good to see them all come in," said Kirkwood sophomore Madsy Richards, a Xavier grad. "That was pretty exciting."

A typical crowd for Kirkwood volleyball includes family, friends and Kirkwood student-athletes from other sports, but the Harding girls occupied a big chunk of the bleachers near mid-court, dressed in Harding green and cheering for the Eagles.

"Having little kids there makes the whole thing better," said Kirkwood soph Caiti Peterson, a Cedar Rapids Washington grad.

Kirkwood Coach Jill Williams enjoyed seeing the middle school athletes in the stands.

"It was fun. Heck, yes," she said. "If some girls want to watch volleyball we want them in the gym."

The Eagles got off to a fast start and were never seriously challenged, although Iowa Lakes (3-2) put up a mild fuss in the third set before the Eagles took control again.

"I thought we did a great job right at the start with our passing," said Williams. "That showed up in the score early."

Kirkwood (4-2) featured a balanced attack. Morgan Grimm led in the kills department with nine, but Richards, Margaret Micka and Alex Miner all had eight kills and Erica Armstrong finished with seven.

Peterson rolled up 35 assists, Richards had 11 digs and Miner blocked three shots at the net.

"We played really well tonight," said Richards. "We were pretty balanced. We had good passes and we were putting the ball away. We had some good blocks up there, too."

"I think we had good team chemistry," added Peterson. "We worked together well and got the job done. I think we have a lot to improve on, but we'll get there."