Coe volleyball and 2-time All-American Maddy Maahs have high expectations again

CEDAR RAPIDS — Maddy Maahs continues to pile up the assists on the volleyball court.

The Coe College junior — already a two-time NCAA All-America setter — led all of Division III in assists as a freshman, was 10th last season and is off to a scorching start again this year.

But when pressed for her goals for the 2024 campaign, there was no mention of statistics. Maahs is looking to advance the team.

“Obviously we want to get back to that NCAA tournament,” Maahs said after posting 35 assists in the Kohawks’ 25-18, 27-25, 25-22 sweep of No. 21 Cornell in a non-conference match Wednesday night at Kohawk Arena. “First has to come conference (play). Make it past that first round and get to hop on a plane somewhere and go.”

Coe (4-3) was eliminated in the first round of the NCAA tournament in each of the last two seasons. Despite the graduation of two-time All-America middle hitter Grace Lueken, there are high expectations for Coe. The Kohawks were picked to win the American Rivers Conference by the conference coaches.

“Pressure is a privilege,” 19th-year Coe Coach DeAnn Akins said. “It is something we take as a compliment. It is something we look forward to with any opponent across the net.”

The win over Cornell (4-4) was the second for Coe against a ranked opponent this season and the first in the last four meetings with the Rams. The Kohawks lead the all-time series, 43-35-1 and including Saturday’s win in football, Coe holds an early 2-0 advantage in the annual battle with Cornell for the Bremner Cup.

“It was a lot of fun,” Maahs said. “Practice all week, preparing up for it. We talked a lot about being a student of the game before the season started. Locking in and doing what you need to do to put yourself in the best shoes when you step on the court.”

Before college, Maahs — the younger sister of former college basketball players Megan Maahs (Northern Iowa) and Mckenzie Maahs (University of Dubuque) — led Western Dubuque to the 2021 Class 4A state volleyball championship.

Her 35 assists against Cornell pushed her season total to 239, which ranks in the top 20 in Division III. When combined with her nation-best 1,234 assists in 2022 — the record for a Coe volleyball freshman — and 1,190 last season, Maahs’ 2,663 career assists rank sixth in program history … with nearly two full years to go.

“She has put a lot of work in when the crowd’s not here,” Akins said. “She puts a lot of hours in and that just goes to show as a testament to her character and also her work ethic and shows on the court.”

Juniors Maggie Furlong and Kelsey Hansel — a former Edgewood-Colesburg prep — led the Kohawks with 10 kills apiece, while 2023 all-conference middle hitter Gracie Urbatsch and junior Maddie Harris — Maahs’ prep teammate at Western Dubuque — added eight. Wisconsin-Oshkosh transfer Bella Rios recorded 11 digs.

Coe hosts Illinois Wesleyan on Friday, the first of eight remaining non-conference matches before conference play begins Oct. 1.

“We have got a great group of girls,” Maahs said. “You can't keep us out of the gym. We're constantly in the gym with coaches, individually, just wanting to get better. Everybody has the same mindset. In past years, it was the same and everybody's really bought in this year.”

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