Comets volleyball earns conference sweep

The Western Iowa Tech volleyball team averaged 13.7 kills/set and hit .295 in a straight-set victory over Southwestern Community College on Wednesday, September 13.

Freshman setter Kaira Willits led the Comets with 36 assists, three aces and nine digs while freshman outside Maya Augustine had a team-high 11 kills.

The sweep (25-12, 25-14, 25-17) marked the second straight win for the Comets (6-9, 2-1 ICCAC), the first such occasion of the season.

"It was great to maintain our level of play all night long," head coach Dante Frattini said. "We're becoming more consistent in the way we train, the way we play, the way we prep, and I think we saw that tonight."

Prior to Wednesday, WIT's previous 10 matches alternated between wins and losses.

Freshman outside Jagoda Szczepaniak recorded eight kills and just one error for a .386 hitting efficiency against the Spartans. Freshman opposite Cooper Champoux had eight kills and two errors on just 12 swings for a .500 hitting efficiency. Kealohilani DeNisi scored five kills (.333), Vienne Meszes had four (.286), Melanie Koval had two (.333), as did Sajai Jackson.

"This was as balanced and also as efficienct as our offense has been all year," Frattini said. "It wasn't just the kills we were getting, but the smart decisions we were making with our attack when our kill shot was not available.

"We have a strong defense and an ever-improving transition game, we need to keep trusting our ability to battle and win long rallies."

Libero Eriza Tamez led the Comets with 13 digs, followed by nine from both Willits and Szczepaniak, seven from Augustine and for from Lotta Lischka.

Szczepaniak also had two aces, Tamez recorded four assists and Meszes scored two solo blocks.

The Comets travel to Boone, Iowa, to take on Des Moines Area Community College on Tuesday, September 19 at 7 p.m.

The Bears are 13-3 overall, 3-0 in conference play and 5-1 at home.