Volleyball repeats as Region champs!

The Century College volleyball team won their 2nd consecutive Region 13A Championship and are heading back to the NJCAA National Tournament in Cedar Rapids, Iowa November 8-11.  

Century entered the region tournament as the top seed in their bracket and faced off with #4 seed Northland Community and Technical College. The Wood Duck's balanced offense and defense overwhelmed the Pioneers and Century won the match in straight sets (25-15, 25-15, 25-17). Sophomore Gabrielle Schwirtz (Plato, MN) ran the offense with 30 assists and 4 aces. The offense was led by freshman Alexis Helmin (Foley, MN) with 12 kills, and sophomore Jamie Ihfe (Wyoming, MN) with 11 kills of her own. Sophomore middle hitter Kalley Vugteveen (Shafer, MN) contributed on both sides of the ball with 4 kills and 4 blocks. Sophomores Cassidy Gilliam (Woodbury, MN), Schwirtz, and Kiyomi Callahan (St. Paul, MN) played solid defense with 15 digs, 13 digs, and 12 digs respectively. Coach Jay Kam was happy with how the team played. "We haven't played a match in over a week and sometimes you can start a little slow. The players showed up today ready to go and took care of business."

On day 2, Century would face off against a familiar foe, #3 seed MN West, who advanced to the regional final after eliminating #2 Central Lakes on day 1. In the previous matchups with the Blue Jays, Century was able to come out on top 3-2 and 3-1, but Coach Kam had to make sure his team was ready for another rematch. "When you already have played a team twice and beat them during the season you can get complacent and overconfident. They know your strengths and weaknesses and have some very good players. We went in with a game plan knowing their best players would score, but we had to limit their production." The plan worked as the Wood Ducks won the match in three sets (25-18, 25-23, 25-21). Helmin and Ihfe led the offense again with 11 kills and 10 kills. Vugteveen also had an efficient 5-kill match while the all-around Callahan had 3 aces, 4 kills, and 8 digs. Gilliam led the defense with 15 digs.  Schwirtz filled the stats line with 34 assists, 2 aces, 2 blocks, and 6 kills. The last kill ended the match and punched the ticket to the national tournament. 

Helmin and Ihfe were recognized to the all-tournament team for their play over the weekend. Schwirtz was named as the tournament MVP. "I couldn't do it without my teammates!" stated Schwirtz. "We couldn't be where we are without each other."

"It's been a journey, and I am very proud of this team. Everyone on the team has worked hard in school and on the court all season to get us where we are right now." says Kam. "We have had our ups and downs through the season, and it's cliché, but we are a family. We have moments where we enjoy each other and want to be together all the time, and then moments of irritation and disagreements and want nothing to do with each other. The great thing about sports is we can learn and grow together if everyone is willing." 

Up next is the NJCAA III National Tournament. The bracket reveal will be on the NJCAA Live Stream Website on Tuesday, October 31, at 11am CST. The Wood Ducks will see where they sit among the 16 teams traveling to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for the tournament on November 9-11.