#19 Volleyball sweeps Lewis & Clark
September 26th, 2018
East Peoria, Ill. – The balloons and streamer lined the rows of bleachers, the pink rosters had been printed. That means that it was the annual Pink Out Night for ICC Volleyball (12-11), as the Cougars played host to the Trailblazers from Lewis & Clark (9-10).
All proceeds from the event went to the Illinois Cancer Care Center.
In all three of the sets, ICC appeared to have a good grasp on the set, then Lewis & Clark would manage a comeback to a degree and make things interesting as the set came to a close. Hall of Fame Head Coach Sue Sinclair said that was because of a couple of things.
“Ultimately, part of what went away from us for a little bit was passing, ball control. Lewis & Clark was a little more aggressive with serving, and we didn’t handle that great. Once we got ourselves in a better groove, I felt like our offense came back around.”
As to how the Cougars would combat that aggressive serving, not just from Lewis & Clark, Sinclair said there’s a couple of options to pursue, while also adding who contributed well in that regard, specific to tonight’s match.
“You do everything from changing serve-receive patterns to changing a little bit of the personnel, get a couple of different people out there. Devin (Lambert) came in and did a good job with some passing. Ciela (Tamayo) getting on the floor, giving us some ball control.”
ICC would eventually sweep the Trailblazers in three sets, 25-11, 25-16, 25-16.
The Cougars will host a one-day triangular on Friday, featuring some opponents that to some may not only be seen as good, but familiar teams as well.
The first opponent for the Cougars will be Jefferson College. Sinclair says that they “are a Division-I program that has traditionally been very strong”. After that, the #8 Kirkwood Eagles will square off with #19 ICC. Sinclair, in her 29th season at ICC, says that Kirkwood’s higher ranking, to go with having already played them to four sets on their home floor will be two major factors heading into that matchup. She added that “it’d be nice to see how we respond to playing a team a second time”.
The 19th-ranked Cougars had previously been un-ranked, so it’s no surprise that the team is happy to be back in the poll.
“I think we’re finally playing to the level of consideration. We had beaten three ranked teams last week, so I think they couldn’t ignore that.” Sinclair stated.
The triangular puts ICC against Jefferson College at 2pm and #8 Kirkwood at 6pm.
ICC Statistical Leaders:
- Kills | Mary O’Brien (14)
- Assists | Haley Peterson (11)
- Digs | Courtney Oeder (14)
- Blocks | Jackie Beaver (4)
- Aces | Amanda Pratt (3)
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