IMS takes second place

It was a successful day for the Iowa Mennonite volleyball team on Saturday, as they claimed second place at the Washington volleyball tournament.

Overall, IMS went 3-2 at the tournament, falling 21-18, 21-13 to Regina in pool play, before facing the Regals again in the finals and falling 25-19, 25-9.

In pool play, IMS defeated Tri-County in straight sets, 21-12, 21-10, led by Natalie Graber?s eight kills. IMS converted 94.9 percent of their serves in the match, with four players earning two aces.

Alijah Beatty led the team with 14 assists in the contest, while Avery Blauvelt, Suzanna Yoder and Jenna Boller each had four digs to lead the team.

In a pool-play match against Washington, the Demons claimed the first set, with a 21-15 victory, before IMS rallied for a 21-16 second-set win and a 15-10 third-set victory to claim the match.

Jessica Bender led the team with seven kills, while Graber had five in the match. Beatty had 12 assists for IMS and led the team with 14 digs, while IMS served at a rate of 84 percent to claim the match.

In the first match against Regina, Graber led the team with four kills, as IMS only picked up seven kills in the match. The team served at a rate of 86.4 percent in the match.

The 2-1 pool play record was enough to advance IMS to the semifinals to face Wilton, who claimed a 25-12 first set victory.

It was all IMS after that, as they went on to claim set victories of 25-21 and 15-13 to take the match.

Graber led the team with eight kills, followed by Bender?s six in the match, while Beatty led the team with 19 assists.

The team missed only one serve in the match against Wilton, converting 44 of its 45 attempts, with Bender and Graber each notching two aces and Bender converting all 13 of her services.

Rachel Miller and Graber each had nine digs to lead the team in the match.

In the championship match against Regina, Graber and Bender notched four kills each, while Beatty had 10 assists and Miller led the team with eight digs.

IMS will travel to face Mediapolis on Tuesday night.