Kirkwood falls in NJCAA D-II volleyball tournament quarterfinals

CEDAR RAPIDS — Kirkwood volleyball coach David Brown was concerned with his team’s passing and serving on Wednesday.

On Thursday, it was the lack of an offensive attack that proved to be the difference.

The Eagles struggled at times during Wednesday’s opening win over Carl Sandburg in the NJCAA Division II tournament at the Alliant Energy Powerhouse.

Those struggles continued in Thursday’s quarterfinal with Gulf Coast State College out of Florida

Brown's team had its chances, but could not come up with the big points when it mattered most.

No. 6 seed Gulf Coast answered every Kirkwood challenge, posting a 25-20, 25-13, 25-19 over the No. 3 seed at the Alliant Energy Powerhouse.

The Eagles (35-7) will play in the consolation round Friday at 1 p.m. against Grand Rapids.

Gulf Coast State (25-5) will play in the semifinals at 4 p.m.

Kirkwood had late leads in each of the final two sets, only to be hurt by a rash of hitting errors. The Eagles had 32 hitting errors, compared to 20 for Gulf Coast State with 24 coming in the final two sets.

After Gulf Coast State had control of the first set, winning 25-20, the Eagles were in position to even the match, leading 23-22. The Commodores then got the final three points of the set, the final two coming on Kirkwood hitting errors.

In Set 3, Kirkwood led 18-17 only to get outscored 8-2 the rest of the way.

Three Kirkwood players, Josie Bryan, Marissa Cahoy and Emma Meester had seven kills each while Kaci Johnson added six. Danna Aguilera led the winners with 10 kills, followed by Cece Worsham with nine.