A tall, talented, and very deep Des Moines Christian volleyball team showed why it has won three of the last four WCAC championships, and is well on its way to claiming another, when it defeated AC/GC last night 3-0 on the Charger home court. The Chargers played well enough to beat most conference schools, but with five players standing at 5”10 or taller, the Lions had too much firepower for the Chargers.

Coach Lyndsey Noe thought the Chargers gave it a go against the Lions when she said, “We started strong going kill for kill with DMC, battling till the end of the first set. DMC’s height and hitting accuracy took over in the second and third sets. The Chargers continued to battle but just couldn’t out power them at the net. We played tough, but in the end their attacks found the floor and ours were dug up.”

With strong support from a fired up student section, the Chargers hung with the Lions in the first set, leading early by a 6-5 score. After DMC took the lead later in the set, a score by Sierra O’Brien that pulled the Chargers within three points at 20-17 brought a thunderous roar from the home crowd before the Lions quieted the crowd and went on to take the set 25-19.

With the score knotted at 4-4 in the second set, the Lions gradually pulled away. Leading at 13-7, DMC went on an eight point run to take a commanding lead of 21-7. The Chargers were unable to challenge and dropped the set by a a 25-11 score.

In the final set AC/GC continued to play hard and trailed only 20-15 before being outscored 8-2 down the stretch and losing by a final of 25-17.

The Chargers had 58 attack attempts, with MaKayla Hoing recording 16, 3 of which were kills. Olivia Laabs also had 3 kills on 7 attempts. Mady Smith and Hoing were perfect from the serving line with 10 and 8 successful serves respectively. Smith led in assists with 8, while Laabs recorded 12 digs and Genevieve Hoover had 7. Jadeyn Carrick recorded 3 blocks for the Chargers. As a team AC/GC had a kill efficiency of 19% and was successful on 85% of its serves.

The Lions put up some pretty impressive stats, as they record 46 kills on 90 attack attempts and the Lion serve efficiency was 96%.

Given the fact that DMC has lost neither a match nor a set in conference play, the loss for the Chargers should not dishearten either the team nor its fans. A first division finish in the WCAC is well within reach. Winnable matches lay ahead for the local girls, beginning with a home match this Thursday, September 21 with Ogden. AC/GC will go into that match with a 13-6 record overall, and a 2-2 mark in the WCAC. Freshman competition begins at 5 PM with junior varsity and varsity action to follow.

Line Score:

DMC

25 25 25

AC/GC 19 11 17