Bees Sweep Way into Semifinals

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Dallas College Eastfield's volleyball team cruised to a pair of sweeps at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Tournament Thursday at Alliant Energy PowerHouse.

Eastfield swept Holyoke Community College 25-5, 25-11, 25-12 in the first round before dispatching Northampton Community College 25-9, 25-15, 25-9 in the quarterfinals.

The No. 1 Harvester Bees (29-1) advanced to Friday's 6:30 p.m. semifinals to play Rochester Community & Technical College (24-8).

In the first round, the No. 1 Harvester Bees (28-1) had double-digit kills in each set, including 15 in the second and third. The Bees hit .353, while Holyoke was held to a -.041 rate.

Mia Santos had 14 kills, two aces and a .455 attack percentage. Madison Mosley and Bailey Brooks each had five kills with no errors. Mosley had four aces. Kira Smith had four kills and three blocks. Patience Gibson had nine digs. Mylah Arzaga had 18 assists, eight digs and three aces.

Eastfield had 13 aces to Holyoke's two.

The Harvesters raced to a 14-4 lead on a kill by Smith. After Holyoke's Alianiz Bonilla had a kill, the Bees ran off the last 10 points, beginning with a kill by Mosley. Mosley then recorded nine straight service points with Santos punctuating the set with a kill.

Eastfield committed only one hitting error in the first set, and hit .458.

In Set 2, Santos gave the Harvester Bees a 17-5 lead on a kill. Holyoke (19-2) pulled within 19-10 after three straight Eastfield errors. Mosley's kill made it 22-11, and the Bees won the last three points on Ally Rogers' serve.

The Harvester Bees hit .400 in the middle set.

Desirae Destiny and Dejaria Robinson combined on a block as Holyoke drew within 11-9 in the third set. Eastfield went on a 6-0 run, which included a kill by Ellie Wartsbaugh, three more by Santos and an ace by Arzaga. Following a kill by Holyoke's Serymar Santos, the Harvesters won the next seven points. Megann Mullins, Aracely Nunez and Wartsbaugh each had a kill during that stretch. The Bees secured the sweep three points later.

Quarterfinals

Eastfield opened up a 10-2 lead on Northampton in the first set before the Spartans (29-2) cut it to 12-6 on a kill by Kira Miller. But the Harvesters went on an 8-0 run to take a 20-6 lead on Brooks' kill. Taylor Hull had a kill to extend the Bees' lead to 22-7, and Santos put down the last two balls to end the first set.

Myah Griggs and Smith had a block to give Eastfield a 15-9 lead in the second set before Northampton's Grace Coppola had a kill to cut the deficit to five. The Bees crept ahead 19-12. Miller's kill pulled Northampton within 21-15. A kill by Griggs, block by Caitlyn Coleman and Griggs, an ace by Santos and block by Coleman and Mosley put Eastfield up two sets.

The Harvesters hit .455 in the second set.

Eastfield ran out to a 12-3 lead in Set 3 on a kill by Santos. Northampton cut it to 13-7 on an ace by Lexi Womack. Mosley had two straight aces to put the Bees up 22-8. A kill by Coleman and block by Coleman and Santos wrapped up the sweep.

Santos finished with 13 kills, three aces and three blocks. Coleman had six kills, no hitting errors, seven blocks and an .857 attack percentage. Mosley had five kills, four aces and two blocks. Griggs had four kills and five blocks. Arzaga had 18 assists and Joslyn Rodriguez 11. Gison had 11 digs.

The Bees hit .364. Northampton hit -.060. Eastfield outblocked Northampton 10-2. The Harvesters had nine aces to Northampton's three.