Iowa Wesleyan volleyball can’t close against Westminster

MT. PLEASANT - The Iowa Wesleyan volleyball team played a heavily-favored Westminster squad close in two-straight sets on Wednesday night, but the Tigers couldn't get either to go their way, allowing the Blue Jays to walk out with sweep (25-12, 26-14, 25-19).

It was a rocky opener for Iowa Wesleyan. The Tigers showed early promise with a 2-0 lead after two points, but the Blue Jays kept them off balance for the rest of the game. Westminster battled back to get a lead and never let the Tigers breathe, running away with a 25-12 victory.

The Tigers saw another early lead disappear in the second set, but this time they responded with fire. The Tigers used a 3-0 run to turn an 8-6 deficit into a 9-8 lead, grabbing the lead on a kill by Emily Gehring. Iowa Wesleyan ran that lead all the way up to four points, at 19-15 on an Anna Leidl kill.

The Blue Jays scrapped back to take their own lead, at 23-22, but Malieokekai DeMate fired one down to the Westminster side of the floor to tie ti at 23-23.

Iowa Wesleyan had set-point at 24-23, but couldn't secure the game-winning point. Westminster scored the last three points of the set to steal the game, 26-24 and move up 2-0 in sets.

'Those are just heartbreaking,” said Iowa Wesleyan head coach Aleksandra Popovic. 'When they're doing everything they can and working so hard, I wanted so much for them to get it.”

The Tigers led again midway through the third. Iowa Wesleyan held a 14-12 lead after another kill by Leidl, but Westminster scored the next five points to go on top 17-15. The Tigers never saw the lead again.

'We were able to find a different rhythm in the second and third set and kind of set some more balls down, but they're top three for a reason,” Popovic said. 'Kudos to them in doing what they had to do to get the job done tonight.”

Iowa Wesleyan is now 1-11 on the year. Westminster moved to 9-2 and is sitting in second place in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Tigers will host another top team in the SLIAC on Saturday when 8-2 Webster rolls into town.