Kirkwood Volleyball

No. 11 Eagles finish 2-2 in tourney

The 11th-ranked Kirkwood women's volleyball team split its two matches  in the Kirkwood tournament Saturday and finished with a 2-2 record in the event at Johnson Hall.

The Eagles were swept by top-ranked Parkland, 25-19, 25-19, 25-18, in  their first match Saturday, then rebounded with a 25-20, 28-26, 25-15 verdict over ninth-ranked McHenry County.

All four of Kirkwood's matches in the tournament were against ranked opponents.

Ady Wintermote led the Eagles Saturday with 19 kills in the two matches. Abbi Tunis had 13 kills, Margaret Micka 11, Nyadoar Gatwech 10 and McKenzie Petersen eight.

Grace Swenning collected 29 assists and Lauren Keane had 28. Micka led Kirkwood in digs with 21, followed by Brianna Eberhardt (20), Wintermote (15) and Keane (13).

Petersen blocked 11 shots Saturday. Gatwech blocked six, Micka five and Haleigh Durnin four.

Parkland won all four of its matches to win the tournament.

Gatwech sparks rally by No. 11 Eagles

The Kirkwood women's volleyball team was being blitzed by sixth-ranked Sauk Valley in the Kirkwood tournament Friday night when Coach Jill Williams plucked Nyadoar Gatwech off the end of the bench to see if she might be able to light a fire.

The 6-foot-3 freshman from Marshalltown, who had played briefly in only one match all season, helped turned the contest around.

The 11th-ranked Eagles rallied for a 15-25, 12-25, 25-18, 25-19, 18-16 victory after being thoroughly outplayed by Sauk Valley in the first two sets.

Gatwech entered the match in the third set and immediately made a big impact. She finished with five blocks and altered several other shots at key moments.

Williams said her impact was "huge."

"Their outside hitters had just been tearing us up," said Williams.  "They had to alter their shots and make some changes (with Gatwech on  the floor) because she does have more size. It gave us a spark, we  found our energy.

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No. 11 Eagles sweep NIACC in volleyball

MASON CITY - The 11th-ranked Kirkwood women's volleyball team blitzed NIACC, 25-19, 25-11, 25-21, in a conference match in Mason City Wednesday night.

Alexa Whipple led the Eagles with 11 kills and 10 digs. Margaret Micka and Ady Wintermote had eight kills.

Lauren Keane rolled up 20 assists and Grace Swenning had 11. McKenzie Petersen blocked seven shots.

Kirkwood raised its records to 8-3 overall and 2-0 in the league.

No. 7 Eagles split matches in Nebraska

NORFOLK, Neb. - The seventh-ranked Kirkwood volleyball team split its four matches at the Northeast Community College tournament this weekend.

On Friday, the Eagles defeated Southeast Community College 3-1 and lost to Colby College 3-2.

On Saturday, the Eagles blanked Marshalltown 3-0 and lost to Fort Scott 3-2 after taking a 2-0 lead.

The split left Kirkwood with a 7-3 record.

Ady Wintermote led Kirkwood in the tournament with 50 kills. Alexa Whipple had 41 kills and Margaret Micka finished with 35.

Lauren Keane collected 95 assists in the tournament and Grace Swenning had 42.

Brianna Eberhrdt led the Eagles with 51 digs. Micka had 44 digs, Whipple 42 and Keane 36.

Abbi Tunis finished with 14 blocks. Haleigh Durnin had nine blocks, Wintermote eight and Keane five.