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Kirkwood regroups for NJCAA D-II volleyball tournament first-round win in Cedar Rapids
Eagles face Gulf Coast State in quarterfinals Thursday night
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CEDAR RAPIDS — Even though Kirkwood was playing just a few miles from its campus, the jitters were there.
The No. 3-seeded Eagles have the advantage of being at home for the NJCAA Division II volleyball tournament, driving downtown to play at the Alliant Energy Powerhouse.
But, as Kirkwood Coach David Brown pointed out late Wednesday night following the Eagles’ 22-25, 25-11, 25-22, 25-12 win over Carl Sandburg, it is still a national tournament.
“We'll chalk up (the loss of) the first set to nerves,” he said. “It was the first time here with this group and I thought we bounced back pretty well.”
Now 35-6, the Eagles will play again on Thursday in the quarterfinals against No. 6 Gulf Coast State out of Florida. That match is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.
Freshman Marissa Cahoy said the Eagles were not on their game in the opening set.
“I just think there were tons of nerves,” said Cahoy, who had 11 kills in the victory. “We eventually got over that and just played our game.”
One aspect of Kirkwood’s game that was not up to par was serving. Even though Kirkwood finished with 11 ace serves, the number of misses from behind the line was 10.
Brown said that is something the team will need to improve in the next round.
“When you play postseason volleyball, it is always going to come down to serve and pass,” he said. “It is what we call a clean aggression. We have to make sure we are putting pressure on them while still keeping the ball in bounds.”
Cahoy added that the Eagles just needed to concentrate on playing their style of volleyball.
“Even in the (second and third sets) we just weren't getting into our game,” she said. “We had too many serving errors and we just needed to focus.”
That focus was there in the fourth set. Kirkwood was in total control, building a 24-7 lead before eventually closing out the match.
“We just pulled it all together,” she said. “We had a lot more energy out there and I know I had a lot more fun than I did in the other sets.”
Josie Bryan led the Eagle offense with 16 kills. Chloe Baez added 10. Lily VanSeveren had 13 digs.
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