Early, Iowa's Alyssa Drey gets 10 digs in AIB's First Volleyball Match Win In Program History

DES MOINES, IOWA - AIB won its first volleyball match in school history, defeating Wentworth Military Academy in four games (25-17, 25-23, 19-25, 25-23) Saturday afternoon at the AIB Activities Center.

The win improves the Eagles to 1-6 on the season, while Wentworth drops to 0-5.

In game one, AIB took the lead for good at 6-5 on a kill by junior Megan Calmer (Panora, Iowa/Panorama). The Eagles stretched the lead to 24-13 before the Dragons scored the next four points. Calmer added the final kill to put the game away 25-17.

After a back and forth battle in game two, AIB closed the game with three straight points for the 25-23 victory, taking 2-0 lead for the match.

Wentworth started game three strong, jumping to an early 5-1 lead. The Eagles closed the gap to 14-10, but would get no closer and dropped game three, 19-25.

Junior Allie Martin (Crawfordsville, Iowa/WACO) started the fourth game with two straight service aces, pacing AIB to an early 4-0 lead before the Dragons scored 11 of the next 14 points to go ahead, 7-11. Freshman Katlynn Gannon (Rippey, Iowa/East Greene) served the next five points, including two service aces, to give the Eagles a 12-11 advantage. Wentworth would respond, going ahead 15-17, before Martin added two more service aces and a service point to regain the lead for AIB at 18-17. The two teams would stay within a point of each other until, with AIB leading 24-23, the Dragons made a hitting error to end the game and give the Eagles their first ever win.

The Eagles were led in kills by Calmer with 16 followed by junior Sarah Maxheimer (Clarion, Iowa/Clarion-Goldfield) with 11. Gannon paced AIB with 20 assists and seven service aces, while Martin was close behind with 19 assists and five service aces. Junior Brittney Smith (Chariton, Iowa/Chariton) and freshman Alyssa Drey (Early, Iowa/St. Mary's) collected 14 and 10 digs, respectively.

The Dragons were led in kills by sophomore Shelby Woodward's 10 kills and four service aces. Freshman Sydney Atchison dished out 16 assists while freshman Pam Von Dincklage added 11 digs.

The Eagles return to action Wednesday (Sept.21) as they travel to Forest City, Iowa to take on conference rival Waldorf College. Match time is set for 7 p.m.

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