Kirkwood Volleyball

Subs help No. 13 Eagles dump Southwestern

Kirkwood volleyball coach Jill Williams dug a little deeper into her bench Wednesday night and got the results she wanted.

The 13th-ranked Eagles spanked Southwestern, 25-17, 25-17, 25-10, in a quick 70-minute match at Johnson Hall.

Kirkwood trailed early in the second set when Williams put Madi Wagaman onto the floor as a setter and the 5-foot-9 freshman from Springville helped spark the team.

"That's the first time she's been put into the driver's seat to run the show without us having a big lead," said Williams, who liked the way Wagaman responded. "Madi does it every day (in practice) on the other side of the net. I felt confident in her."

Wagaman did not play in the first set, but she joined the rotation for the rest of the night and finished with 10 assists, two kills, two digs and two blocks.

Freshmen Maranda Wheelock, Abbie Ericson and Taylor Carey also got into the match for the Eagles as reserves. Ericson collected four kills in her only set.

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Eagles win twice at KCC tourney

The Kirkwood women's volleyball team won both of its matches Saturday at its own tournament to finish the event with a 3-1 record for the weekend at Johnson Hall.

The 12th-ranked Eagles topped Sauk Valley, 25-12, 15-25, 25-19, 25-17, and whipped 18th-ranked McHenry County, 25-11, 25-9, 25-17.

Lauren Keane rolled up 70 assists in the two matches, with 37 assists against Sauk Valley and 33 more against McHenry. She also had 16 digs.

Alexa Ingram finished with 27 kills, 23 digs and nine blocks Saturday, with 19 of those kills coming against Sauk Valley.

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No. 12 Eagles split 2 matches in tourney

The 12th-ranked Kirkwood women's volleyball team split its two matches in the Kirkwood tournament Friday night at Johnson Hall.

The Eagles topped Illinois Central, 25-14, 15-25, 25-16, 25-18 in their first match before losing to seventh-ranked Highland, 25-21, 16-25, 25-23, 25-19 in their second contest.

Alexa Ingram led Kirkwood with 39 kills in the two matches, with 19 kills against Illinois Central and 20 against Highland.

Haleigh Durnin, Abbi Tunis and Sami Johnson had seven kills against Illinois Central. Lauren Keane collected 32 assists. Maddie Lavenz  finished with 32 digs and three aces. Keane had 18 digs, Ingram 15, Chloe McNeese 13 and Johnson 12. Keane blocked four shots.

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Ingram is born killer for Kirkwood

Alexa Ingram has the heart of a killer on a volleyball court, which is why she's starring for the Kirkwood Eagles now instead of playing for the Drake Bulldogs.

Ingram played for the Bulldogs last season as a freshman, but the coaching staff viewed the dynamic left-hander as a setter instead of a kill-shot artist at the net.

Ingram is "only" 5-foot-7, which is relatively short for a hitter in college, but she loves that part of the game and was not happy with her limited role at Drake.

"I didn't really like it too much," she said Wednesday night. "I just left and was ready to take a break."

Ingram, an Iowa City High grad, left Drake after the fall semester in 2017 and transferred to the University of Iowa for the winter semester, not knowing if she'd ever play volleyball again.

Then the bug hit again.

"I decided I missed it," she said. "Going to school and not having anything at the end of the day, I was like 'I don't know what to do.' I like the structure of it."

Ingram has found a new home at Kirkwood, where she's become a key player for the 12th-ranked Eagles. She leads Kirkwood with 142 kills and 109 digs in 11 matches and is having a blast.

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