IW volleyball team drops two

CARLINVILLE, Ill. - The Iowa Wesleyan volleyball team lost two SLIAC games at the Blackburn College quad on Saturday, both in four sets. The Tigers fell to Spalding University 22-25, 25-13, 25-8, 25-15 and to hosting Blackburn 22-25, 25-13,25-18, 25-22.

In the loss to Spalding, IW had three players hit double-digits in kills. Paige Kammerer led the way with 11 kills. Anna Leidl and Lida Landre had 10 apiece. Ariel Smale finished with six, and Maritza Romero had three.

Jenna Murphy led the defense with 26 digs. Smale had 24 digs and 19 assists. Kammerer tallied 16 assists.

The Tigers had eight service errors and four aces. Smale, Murphy, Jaden Streeter and Landre each had one assist.

Landre finished with a team-high 13 kills in the loss to Blackburn. Smale and Leidl were close behind with eight kills apiece. Kammerer had seven. Grace Thomas finished with two, and Romero had one.

Murphy ended the Blackburn game with 21 digs. Smale had 19 assists and 10 digs. Kammerer finished with 16 assists and 10 digs. Kilie Akers had 16 digs.

The Tigers had a better serving game against the Beavers, connecting for nine aces and finishing with eight service errors. Murphy's three aces led the way. Kammerer had two, and Smale, Thomas, Streeter and Landre each had one.

IW is now 8-17 overall and 4-10 in SLIAC play. They have been mathmatically eliminated from conference tournament contention.

The Tigers will play their final October game at Eureka on Wednesday, Oct. 30. After that, they'll close the season out with a game at Principia College on Friday, Nov. 1, and two games in Webster Groves, Missouri, against Fontbonne University and Webster University.