Nobody wanted to look at Erica Armstrong's left hand after she dislocated a finger while playing for the Kirkwood volleyball team in a 3-0 victory over NIACC Wednesday night, although the trainer had no choice.

Several of Armstrong's teammates covered their mouths and looked away.

"They were about to puke," she said later.

Even Armstrong looked away as the trainer examined her hand and then popped the errant finger back into place.

"It was ugly," said Kirkwood Coach Jill Williams, who took a quick peek.

"It was smashed up," Armstrong confirmed.

Incredibly, she did not miss a single point despite the injury. "Oh no, couldn't," she said firmly.

Without a doubt, Armstrong is a tough customer on the floor.

The trainer taped her pinkie and ring finger together between sets and the 6-foot sophomore from Guttenburg and Clayton Ridge High School simply played on.

"I asked her, 'Does it hurt?,'" Williams said after the match.

"She said, 'No.'

"Are you good to go?"

"Yes."

It was a freak injury at the net as Armstrong and Madsy Richards both tried to block a shot by NIACC.

"The ball came over and I went up to block it and Madsy swung on it," said Armstrong. "Madsy hit it and the ball hit my finger."

Armstrong's hand began to ache after the match and she was headed to the training room for assistance, but not before she received the "Pride Award" from her teammates in the form of a stuffed toy animal that's supposed to be a wolf (but looks more like a dog). One of the Eagles gets the award in recognition of a job well done.

Williams said Armstrong make a lot of progress last year as a freshman and was a force for the Eagles when they finished seventh at the national tournament. Armstrong was an outside hitter in high school, but Williams converted her into a middle blocker in college.

"She might have scratched her head and wondered why I was doing that," Williams said. "But I saw a lot of athleticism and the fact that she could block and do good things at the net, and that's what she's doing."

Armstrong participated in volleyball, basketball and track in high school and helped Clayton Ridge win the Class 2A state title in track in 2015 when she was a senior. She had offers to play college basketball at Waldorf, NIACC and Central, but elected to play volleyball at Kirkwood.

"It's always been my favorite sport, but it was between basketball and volleyball," she said. "I don't know. I just liked Kirkwood the best out of everything."

The fourth-ranked Eagles swept NIACC, 25-14, 25-18, 25-16, in the conference match at Johnson Hall. Kirkwood, now 15-2 overall and 4-0 in the league, has won 14 straight matches heading into the tough Parkland tournament in Champaign, Ill., this weekend.

The Eagles will face three ranked teams at the tournament, including No. 3 Lincoln Land and No. 5 Owens, which sit on either side of Kirkwood in the NJCAA Division II rankings. Kirkwood also will face Vincennes, which is ranked No. 20 in Division I, as well as Muskegon.

"We're going to find out what we're made of," said Williams.

Richards led Kirkwood with 12 kills and five blocks against NIACC. Morgan Grimm contributed seven kills. Alex Miner had six kills and five blocks. Armstrong finished with five kills and five blocks. Margaret Micka also collected five kills. Caiti Peterson had 25 assists and 11 digs.

NIACC fell to 11-5 overall and 1-3 in the conference.