#9 Kirkwood Takes Down #9 Indian Hills
Cedar Rapids, IA- The ninth-ranked team in DII JUCO Volleyball, the Kirkwood Eagles, welcomed the ninth-ranked team in DI JUCO Volleyball, the Indian Hills Warriors, into Johnson Hall on Wednesday night for their 2024 season opener. The Eagles were coming off a 3-1 opening weekend and were looking to continue their strong start onto their home court. Kirkwood is comprised of 5 returning sophomores and 9 new freshman.
The atmosphere in Johnson Hall was electric with fans showing up in full force for the opener. The first set started with both teams trading off points until the Eagles started to pull away in the middle of the set. A couple of key blocks, strong defensive plays, and timely kills allowed the Eagles to create some spcae between them and the Warriors. Kirkwood would take the set 25-17 while hitting .522 on 14 kills. Lily VanSeveren was a staple in the backrow again, leading the contest as the only player with double digit digs (16). The second set was a highly contested one between both teams. Each were trading points until 20-20 when a key ace by VanSeveren and a kill by Kaci Johnson allowed Kirkwood to gain some momentum. Emma Meester would close the set out at 23-24 with a kill out of the middle. She would hit .455 on 22 attempts wiith 13 kills. The middles of Kirkwood were truly difference makers in the match. Freshman Chloe Baez hit .889 with 8 kills on 9 swings. Sophomore Ava Harris-Shepard would go 8 for 11, hitting .727, with each middle adding 4 block assists. Sophomore setter Sydney Matthias added 17 assists of her own while Johnson put up 21 as well. The last set was controlled from start to finish by Kirkwood who would close the match 25-21.
The Eagles will travel to Illinois this Saturday to take on #6 Illinois Central.
